2../S^.o 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^^'j/ 


Purchased   by  the 
Mrs.    Robert   Lenox   Kennedy  Church   History   Fund. 

BS  2410  .G54  1906 

Gilbert,  George  Holley,  185^ 

-1930. 
A  short  history  of 

Christianity  in  the 


7 


CONSTRUCTIVE  BIBLE  STUDIES 


EDITED    BY 

ERNEST    DEWITT  BURTON 


A   SHORT    HISTORY   OF   CHRISTIANITY 
IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 


BY 

GEORGE  HOLLEY  GILBERT 


A  Short  History  of  Christianity 
in  the  Apostolic  Age 


GEORGE  HOLLEY  GILBERT,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 


Constructive  Bible  Studies 
College  and  Academy  Series 


CHICAGO 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

1906 


Copyright  1906  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


Published  November,  iqo6 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Prev 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  furnish  Bible  students  a  guide  and  com- 
panion in  their  investigation  of  the  apostohc  age.  The  author, 
cherishing  that  same  ideal  of  thorough,  constructive  study  of  the 
Bible  which  dominates  the  former  volumes  of  this  series,  has  endeav- 
ored to  do  for  the  earliest  period  of  church  history  what  Professors 
Burton  and  Mathews  have  done  for  the  hfe  of  Christ.  As  in  that 
volume,  so  in  this,  the  needs  of  students  in  academies  and  colleges, 
and  in  the  advanced  classes  of  Sunday  schools,  have  been  constantly 
regarded. 

This  work  has  been  done  with  a  conviction  that  the  simple  facts 
about  the  gospel  in  the  first  Christian  generation  are  as  interesting 
as  a  great  imaginative  poem,  as  essential  to  a  liberal  education  as  a 
knowledge  of  Greek  history  in  the  time  of  Pericles  or  of  English  history 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  and  more  inspiring,  more  illuminating 
as  regards  the  very  spirit  of  Jesus,  than  the  facts  of  any  subsequent 
period  in  the  long  history  of  the  Christian  church. 

In  order  that  one  may  get  the  best  results  from  the  use  of  this 
book,  it  is  urged  that  the  passages  of  Scripture  referred  to  in  the 
synopsis  at  the  head  of  each  chapter  be  read  carefully  before  reading 
the  chapter,  and  then,  after  the  chapter  has  been  read,  be  studied 
again  with  even  more  care.  The  book  wishes  to  be  a  guide  to  a 
certain  region  of  early  Christian  history,  but  to  the  fulfilment  of  this 
end  the  student  must  enter  that  region  for  himself  and  must  dwell 
in  it  with  open  eyes  and  open  mind.  Teachers  who  may  use  this 
book  will,  it  is  earnestly  hoped,  make  plain  to  their  pupils  the  neces- 
sity of  securing  first-hand  acquaintance  with  the  New  Testament 
documents  on  which  it  is  based. 

The  book  is  divided  into  Parts,  Chapters,  and  Sections,  the 
limits  of  which  are  determined  by  the  nature  and  relations  of  the 
events  and  hterature  to  be  studied.  Teachers  are  advised  to  assign 
lessons  according  to  their  judgment  of  the  ability  of  the  pupils  to  do 
the  work,  always  including  with  the  sections  assigned  for  study  the 
questions  that  pertain  to  them. 


Certain  sections  and  paragraphs  have  been  set  in  smaller  type 
than  the  rest  of  the  book.  These  deal  with  questions  of  critical 
scholarship  or  matters  of  detail,  and  are  intended  especially  for  teach- 
ers and  the  more  mature  pupils.  Teachers  should  exercise  their 
judgment  in  deciding  whether  this  material  should  be  assigned  for 
study.  If  it  is  omitted,  the  questions  referring  to  it  should,  of  course, 
also  be  omitted. 

I  wish  to  say  frankly,  in  conclusion,  that  this  volume  owes  not  a 
little  to  the  numerous  suggestions  of  Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton, 
of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

G.[H.  G. 

Northampton,  Mass. 
June  9,  1906 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 
SYNOPSIS 

A.  Our  Knowledge  of  the  Church  in  the  Apostolic  Age         ^ 
§  I.  General  Survey  of  the  Sources  of  Our  Knowledge. 

§  2.  The  Book  of  Acts. 

§  3.  The  New  Testament  Epistles. 

§4.  Limits  of  Our  Knowledge. 

B.  A  Brief  Survey  of  the  Extension  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic 
Age 

§  5.  The  Limits  of  the  ApostoHc  Age. 
§6.  The  Theater  of  Action. 
§  7.  The  Numerical  Result. 

§8.  The  Relation  of  the    Jewish  Church  and  the    Roman  Government  to 
Christianity. 

A.  OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE 

§  I.  General  Survey  of  the  Sources  of  Our  Knowledge. — There 
are  two  great  sources  whence  we  derive  our  knowledge  of  the  church 
in  the  earhest  period  of  its  history,  viz.,  the  book  of  Acts  and  the  New 
Testament  epistles  and  Apocalypse.  The  gospels  also,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  John,  were  indeed  written  in  this  period,  and  are 
not  without  value  for  our  view  of  the  development  of  thought  in  the 
first  century,  though  they  are  directly  concerned  with  the  work  of 
Jesus.  They  throw  hght,  for  instance,  on  the  early  interpretation 
of  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  on  the  primitive  growth  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  person  of  Christ. 

Again,  there  arc  other  Christian  writings,  notably  the  First  Epistle 
0}  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  and  the  Teaching  of  the  Tivelve  Apostles, 
which,  though  written  at  the  close  or  even  beyond  the  close  of  the 
apostolic  age,  afford  us  some  help,  especially  in  constructing  a  picture 
of  the  Christian  thought  of  that  time. 

Finally,  the  Roman  historian,  Suetonius,  in  his  Life  oj  Claudius, 
and  Tacitus,  in  his  Annals,  are  of  value  for  the  light  they  shed  on 
the  earliest  persecutions. 

3 


4  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE 

But  these  sources  of  information,  while  valuable,  particularly  for 
advanced  students,  are  quite  subordinate  to  Acts  and  the  epistles. 

§  2.  The  Book  of  Acts. — This  writing  is  prebcnted  as  a  continuation  of  the 
third  gospel,  which  it  calls  "the  former  treatise"  (Acts  i:  i).  Like  that  it  is  ad- 
dressed to  Theophilus,  a  Christian  whom  the  author  wished  to  establish  thoroughly 
in  the  faith  (Luke  1:3).  The  two  books  are  also  intimately  bound  together  by  a 
common  literary  style  of  a  high  order  of  excellence.  It  is  generally  recognized, 
therefore,  that  they  are  the  work  of  the  same  author.  Who  this  author  was 
the  gospel  does  not  at  all  indicate,  but  the  book  of  Acts  with  the  letters  of  Paul 
gives  us  valuable  hints.  For  in  certain  parts  of  Acts  (viz.,  16:10-17;  20:5- 
21  :  18;  27  :  28)  the  narrative  is  carried  on  in  the  first  person.  In  these  sections 
the  narrator  is  a  companion  of  Paul  who  went  with  him  from  Troas  to  Philippi 
on  the  second  missionary  journey,  later  from  Philippi  to  Jerusalem,  and  finally 
from  Caesarea  to  Rome.  Now  only  two  friends  seem  to  have  been  with  Paul 
on  his  eventful  voyage  to  Rome,  of  whom  one  was  Aristarchus,  a  Macedonian 
of  Thessalonica  (Acts  27:2),  and  the  other,  the  unnamed  author  of  the  account 
of  this  voyage  In  the  letters  written  by  Paul  from  Rome  we  seem  to  get  near 
to  this  unnamed  author.  There  are  five'  men  with  Paul,  one  of  whom  he  mentions 
as  sending  greeting  to  his  readers,  viz.,  Aristarchus,  then  Mark,  Epaphras,  Luke, 
and  Demas  (Col.  4: 10-14;  Philemon  23,  24),  and  we  naturally  look  among  these 
men  for  the  author  of  the  description  of  the  voyage  to  Rome  and  of  the  other 
parts  of  Acts  which  are  written  in  the  first  person.  Now  four  of  these  five  men 
are  excluded  from  the  authorship  of  the  diary.  Aristarchus  is  excluded  by 
Acts  27:2,  where  he  is  mentioned  by  name  and  distinguished  from  the  writer. 
Mark  is  excluded  by  the  fact  that  he  was  not  with  Paul  on  the  second  missionary 
journey  (Acts  15:39).  Epaphras  was  a  Colossian  (Col.  4:12),  and  as  Paul 
did  not  labor  in  the  vicinity  of  Colossi  until  the  third  missionary  journey,  there 
is  no  ground  for  thinking  that  Epaphras  can  have  been  with  him  on  the 
second  journey.  Demas  is  apparently  excluded  by  2  Tim.  4 :  10,  for  Paul  there 
says  that  he  had  forsaken  him,  having  loved  this  present  world.  But  it  is  improb- 
able that  a  man  who  had  continued  with  Paul  in  all  the  perils  recorded  in  Acts 
16  :  21-22;  27;  28  would  at  last  forsake  him  out  of  love  for  the  present  world. 
There  remains,  then,  of  the  five  men,  who  were  with  Paul  when  he  wrote  to 
the  Colossians  and  Philemon,  only  Luke,  the  "beloved  physician"  (Col.  4:14). 
We  have  ground,  therefore,  for  ascribing  to  him  the  authorship  of  the  diary  which 
is  embedded  in  Acts. 

But  it  seems  most  natural  to  hold  that  he  who  wrote  this  diary  wrote 
also  the  entire  book,  since  a  man  of  literary  ability  like  that  of  the  author  of 
Acts  would  scarcely  have  incorporated  in  his  history,  in  an  unchanged  form, 
the  diary  of  some  other  man.  With  a  good  degree  of  confidence,  therefore, 
we  hold,  with  the  church  of  the  second  century,  that  the  author  of  Acts  and  of 
the  third  gospel  was  Luke. 

I  Six  in  Colossians;  but  the  sixth  (Jesus  called  Justus),  being  wholly  unknown,  is 
ignored  in  the  above  statement. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

In  view,  moreover,  of  the  identity  of  the  author  of  Acts  and  the  third  gospel, 
we  apply  to  the  composition  of  Acts  what  is  said  in  the  introductory  verses  of 
the  third  gospel  (Luke  1:1-4).  and  hold  that  the  author's  careful  investigation 
of  his  material  furnishes  good  ground  on  which  to  accept  the  general  trustwor- 
thiness of  his  narrative.  In  the  parts  covered  by  the  diary  he  had  first-hand 
knowledge.  In  other  parts,  as  in  the  account  of  the  first  missionary  journey, 
he  needed  no  other  source  than  Paul.  For  the  history  of  the  founding  of  the 
church  and  of  the  earliest  spread  of  Christianity,  especially  for  the  long  addresses 
of  Peter  and  Stephen,  he  was  probably  dependent,  at  least  in  part,  on  the  writings 
of  others. 

The  purpose  of  Acts,  as  we  may  infer  from  the  author's  words  in  the  preface 
to  the  gospels,  was  to  inform  and  establish  Theophilus,  and  the  specific  plan 
by  which  this  was  to  be  accomplished  is  suggested  in  Acts  i :  8.  It  was  to  narrate 
the  triumphant  manner  in  which  men  had  borne  witness  to  Jesus  from  Jeru- 
salem to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

As  to  the  time  when  Acts  was  written,  those  who  hold  it  to  be  the  work  of 
Luke  are  divided  between  an  earlier  date  (59-65  A.  D.)  and  a  later  (75-80  A.  D.), 
the  preference  now  being  for  the  second. 

§  3.  The  New  Testament  Epistles.— The  second  main  source  of  knowledge 
regarding  the  church  in  the  apostolic  age  is  the  New  Testament  letters.  The 
composition  of  all  these  documents,  if  we  except  2  Peter,  probably  falls  within 
the  first  century.  The  authorship  of  some  of  them,  e.  g.,  2  Peter  and  Hebrews, 
is  entirely  unknown;  that  of  a  somewhat  larger  number  is  regarded  by  many 
scholars  as  uncertain — this  number  including,  among  others,  the  two  epistles 
to  Timothy  and  Titus,  the  epistles  of  John,  and  the  Apocalypse;  but  the  author- 
ship of  the  more  important  half  of  the  whole  group  of  writings  is  very  generally 
accepted  as  reasonably  sure.  This  number  includes  ten  letters  of  Paul  and  one 
of  Peter. 

As  compared  with  Acts  these  New  Testament  epistles  introduce  us  to  the 
teaching  which  was  current  in  the  apostolic  age  rather  than  to  the  external 
history  of  the  church.  And  yet  at  the  same  time  it  is  in  these  letters  that  we 
get  some  of  our  most  vivid  pictures  of  the  effects  which  the  new  preaching  pro- 
duced. The  book  of  Acts  unrolls  a  large  historical  canvas  before  us;  the  letters 
contain  miniatures. 

§  4.  Limits  of  Our  Knowledge. — While  we  know  much  of  the 
history  of  the  church  in  the  apostolic  age,  it  is  wise  to  remember 
that  our  knowledge  is  limited  on  every  side.  Of  the  work  of  nine  ot 
the  apostles  whom  Jesus  chose  and  trained,  and  whom  he  sent  out 
to  bear  witness  even  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  we  know  nothing  at  all.  It 
is  not  once  mentioned  in  our  sources.  Of  the  remaining  two  apostles 
— Peter  and  John — the  latter  simply  appears  a  few  times  as  the 
usually  silent  companion  of  Peter.     Whether  he  preached  and  founded 


6  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

churches,  and  if  so,  where,  we  do  not  know.  Peter  is  the  hero  of  the 
early  part  of  Acts,  and  we  have  ghmpses  of  hj^  movements  until  the 
death  of  James  (Acts  12:2).  We  also  know  from  Paul  a  httle 
about  his  later  career  (Gal.  2:  11;  i  Cor.  1:12;  9:5);  but  if  he  suf- 
fered martyrdom  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  as  ancient  tradition  affirms, 
there  is  a  period  in  his  life  of  at  least  twenty  years  which  is  to  us 
practically  a  blank.  We  know  of  one  short  evangelistic  tour  by  him 
besides  his  early  activity  in  Jerusalem,  but  that  is  all.  If  he  made 
other  and  extensive  tours,  which  seems  probable  (cf.  Gal.  2:9),  and 
if  he  founded  churches  or  had  great  influence  in  other  ways  as  the 
rock-apostle,  there  is  no  record  of  these  things. 

Thus  our  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  original  apostles  is  ex- 
ceedingly meager.  It  passed  into  history  largely  as  an  impersonal 
force.     It  found  no  Luke  to  chronicle  it  for  coming  generations. 

Paul  is  the  only  man  of  the  apostolic  age  whose  labors  have  been 
recorded  with  any  fulness,  and  yet  our  knowledge  even  of  him  is 
but  fragmentary.  Thus  of  the  first  fourteen  years  of  his  Christian 
activity  thirteen  are  practically  unknown.  He  had  worked  many 
years  as  a  foreign  missionary  before  he  went  out  from  Antioch  on 
the  so-called  first  missionary  journey.  He  was  a  great  preacher, 
but  we  have  none  of  his  sermons;  at  most,  five-minute  abstracts  or 
reports  of  a  few  of  them.  He  was  a  great  organizer  and  administrator ; 
but  though  we  have  important  information  regarding  these  phases  of 
his  activity,  the  sources  leave  us  uncertain  on  some  points. 

Of  the  inner  history  of  the  church  also  in  Paul's  day  our  infor- 
mation is  not  complete.  We  know,  e.  g.,  that  there  were  grave 
misunderstandings  between  the  Jewish  and  the  gentile  Christians, 
but  we  have  no  statement  of  the  case  from  one  who  fully  sympathized 
with  the  Jewish  position.  Again,  we  know  that  believers  in  Paul's 
time  were  made  acquainted  with  the  life  and  the  teaching  of  Jesus, 
but  what  written  accounts  of  these  were  in  circulation,  and  how 
such  accounts  were  regarded  in  comparison  with  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, no  one  is  in  a  position  to  say  definitely. 

These  points  may  suffice  to  suggest  the  limitations  of  our  knowl- 
edge regarding  the  church  of  the  earliest  age,  and  the  need  of  caution 
in  the  use  of  our  sources. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

B.     A   BRIEF   SURVEY   OF  THE    EXTENSION    OF    CHRISTIANITY 
IN  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE 

§  5.  The  Limits  of  the  Apostolic  Age. — The  apostolic  age  began 
when  the  disciples  became  convinced  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 
The  date  of  this  event  can  be  approximately  determined ;  it  probably 
belongs  to  the  year  30  a.  d.  ;  but  the  close  of  the  period  is  indefinite. 
The  term  itself  naturally  suggests  that  the  period  closed  with  the 
death  of  the  last  of  the  apostles  whose  work  and  death  are  known; 
but  the  death  of  the  three  men  of  whose  labors  we  have  any  consider- 
able information,  viz.,  Peter,  John,  and  Paul,  is  not  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  A  very  old  tradition  puts  the  death  of  Peter  and 
Paul  in  the  persecution  of  the  Christians  under  Nero  (64-66  A.  d.), 
and  that  of  John  in  the  time  of  Domitian,  near  the  close  of  the  first 
century.  Now,  since  we  have  no  direct  information  whatever  regard- 
ing the  history  of  the  church  from  the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul  to  the 
time  of  Clement  of  Rome,  approximately  from  65-95  a.  d.,  it  seems 
more  natural  to  find  the  terminus  of  the  age  in  65  a.  d.  than  in  the 
death  of  John.  But  wherever  we  set  the  exact  limit,  it  will  remain 
true  that  the  Apostolic  Age  practically  closed  some  thirty-five  years 
after  the  great  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  2:1).  This  is  the  length  of 
the  first  creative  epoch  in  the  history  of  Christianity. 

It  is  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  work  to  enter  into  an  extended 
discussion  of  the  chronology  of  the  period.  Within  the  thirty-five 
years  above  referred  to  there  are  two  events  to  which  there  are  refer- 
ences in  contemporary  history  which  enable  us  to  determine  their 
dates  with  approximate  accuracy.  These  events  are  the  death  of 
Herod  Agrippa  I  (Acts  12:23)  and  the  accession  of  Festus  (Acts 
24: 27).  The  former  of  these  events  took  place  in  44  a.  d.  ;  the  latter 
probably  in  the  summer  of  58  a.  d.,  though  some  modern  scholars 
date  it  as  early  as  55  a.  d.,  and  some  as  late  as  60  a.  d.  Into  the 
chronological  framework  determined  by  these  relatively  fixed  points 
the  other  events  of  the  period  can  be  fitted  with  varying  degrees  of 
certainty  and  definiteness.  The  result,  subject  to  doubt  on  many 
points  of  detail,  but  at  no  point  very  wide  of  the  mark,  is  exhibited 
in  the  following  table  of  the  approximate  dates  of  the 


8    -  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

CHIEF  EVENTS  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE* 

27  or  30  A.  D.     Death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus;    Pentecost. 

32  A.  D.     The  conversion  of  Paul. 

32-35  A.  D.     In  Arabia  and  Damascus. 

35-44  A.  D.     In  Syria  and  CiUcia. 

44  A.  D.     The  planting  of  the  church  in  Antioch. 

45-47  A.  D.     Paul's  first  missionary  journey. 

48  A.  D.     The  conference  in  Jerusalem. 

49-51  A.  D.     Paul's  second  missionary  journey. 

52-56  A.  D.     Paul's  third  missionary  journey. 

56-58  A.  D.     Paul's  two  years'  imprisonment  in  Caesarea. 

58-59  A.  D.     Paul's  voyage  to  Rome. 

59-61  A.  D.     Paul's  two  years'  imprisonment  in  Rome. 

64  A.  D.  The  death  of  Paul.  The  death  of  Peter  also  probably  occurred  not 
far  from  this  time. 

70  A.  D.     The  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

64-100  A.  D.  A  period  of  relative  obscurity;  the  gospels,  the  Revelation,  and 
several  New  Testament  letters  were  written,  but  of  the  external  events  little  is  known. 

§  6.  The  Theater  of  Action. — The  ministry  of  Jesus  was  limited 
to  an  area  about  100  miles  in  extent  from  north  to  south,  and 
half  that  distance  from  east  to  west.  The  labors  of  the  apostolic 
age,  so  far  as  known  to  us,  extended  across  a  territory  some  2,000 
miles  from  east  to  west  and  700  from  north  to  south.  If  we  leave 
Rome  out  of  account,  the  field  of  apostolic  labor  is  at  once  reduced 
to  about  1,000  miles  from  east  to  west  and  500  from  north  to  south. 
The  course  of  the  gospel  across  this  region  was  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean coast,  first  northward  to  Antioch,  then  westward  and  north- 
westward to  Troas  and  Philippi,  and  finally  southward  to  Corinth. 
The  missionary  work  of  which  we  have  record  was  confined  chiefly 
to  four  large  cities,  viz.,  Jerusalem,  Syrian  Antioch,  Ephesus, 
and  Corinth,  and  to  seven  others  of  lesser  size,  of  which  four  were 
in  Asia  Minor,  viz.,  Antioch,  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  and 
three  in  Greece,  viz.,  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  and  Bercea.  The  work 
of  evangehzation  was  extended  rapidly  from  these  centers  through 
the  surrounding  country  (see,  e.  g..  Acts  14:  7;  19:10),  but  of  this 
wider  work  within  the  period  under  consideration  we   know  little. 

'For  the  sake  of  completeness  we  give  the  approximate  date  of  the  death  of 
Jesus.  This  rests  upon  grounds  of  its  own  which  are  independent  of  the  Pauline 
chronology. 

References  to  literature  on  the  subject  are  given  under  §  lo. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

§  7.  The  Numerical  Result. — On  the  day  of  Pentecost  there 
were  120  believers  gathered  together  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  1:15),  who, 
although  not  all  of  those  who  had  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah, 
probably  included  the  most  vigorous  elements  of  the  whole  company ; 
at  the  close  of  the  period  there  were  companies  of  Christian  disciples 
in  thirty  cities  and  towns  mentioned  by  name  in  our  sources,^ 
besides  a  considerable  number  of  churches  known  to  have  existed 
though  not  named  (see  Acts  9:31;  15:41;  i  Cor.  1:2;  i  Pet.  1:1; 
Titus  1:5).  Furthermore,  the  fragmentary  character  of  our  sources 
makes  it  probable  that  the  results  of  evangelistic  effort  prior  to  the 
year  65  a.  d.  were  considerably  more  extensive  than  we  are  able  to 
point  out  in  detail.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  for  instance,  that 
the  work  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  in  Cyprus,  followed  by  that  of  Barna- 
bas and  Mark,  bore  fruit  in  the  planting  of  a  number  of  churches, 
and  as  little  can  we  doubt  that  the  message  of  Jesus  was  proclaimed 
in  Alexandria  and  on  the  Euphrates  before  the  death  of  Peter  and 
Paul. 

Of  the  size  of  the  Christian  communities  of  whose  existence  we 
have  definite  knowledge  nothing  certain  can  be  said.  The  early 
development  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem  assumed  large  proportions, 
as  did  that  of  the  churches  in  the  Syrian  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Corinth, 
and  Rome.  The  riots  occasioned  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
in  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  and  Ephesus  indicate  plainly  that  the 
adherents  of  the  new  rehgion  had  become  a  power  of  no  small  mag- 
nitude. But  of  the  total  number  of  disciples  won  between  Pentecost 
and  the  death  of  Paul,  it  is  clearly  impossible  to  speak  except  in  the 
most  general  manner.  The  sources  justify  us  in  saying  that  the 
country  bordering  on  the  north  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  as  far  as 
Corinth  and  also  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor  were  thoroughly  leav- 
ened by  the  gospel. 

§  8.  The  Relation  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  the  Roman  Gov- 
ernment to  Christianity. — From  Pentecost  to  the  Neronian  perse- 
cution the  authorities  of  the  Jewish  church  opposed  the  work  of 
Christian  missions  both  among  the  Jews  and  the  gentiles,  but  the 

'  Damascus,  Jerusalem,  Samaria,  Lydda,  Joppa,  Caesarea,  Ptolemais,  Tyre, 
Sidon,  Antioch  (S.),  Antioch  (P.),  Iconium,  Lystra,  Derbe,  Ephesus,  Colossae,  Troas, 
Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Beroea,  Athens,  Corinth,  Puteoli,  Rome,  Smyrna,  Pergamum 
Thyatira,  Sardis,  Laodicea,  Philadelphia. 


lO  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

Roman  government  took  no  notice  of  these  missions  as  a  religious 
movement.  There  were  Christian  martyrs  in  this  period,  but  they 
fell  before  religious  fanaticism,  not  as  victims  of  political  persecu- 
tion. The  power  which  had  brought  Jesus  to  the  cross  sought  from 
the  first  to  stamp  out  the  movement  instituted  in  his  name.  Apostles 
were  imprisoned  and  beaten,  and  one  was  beheaded;  the  first  of  the 
"  seven  "  was  stoned,  and  at  one  time  the  persecution  was  so  hot  in 
Jerusalem  under  the  leadership  of  Paul  that  most  Christians  appear  to 
have  been  driven  from  the  city.  Saul  had  no  successor  in  the  work 
of  persecution  of  zeal  and  abihty  equal  to  his  own,  but  the  spirit  of 
the  Jewish  authorities  remained  unchanged  throughout  the  apostolic 
age,  and  wherever  the  gospel  was  preached  the  great  majority  of  the 
Jews  opposed  its  spread.  But,  while  this  is  true,  we  should  remem- 
ber that  a  few  Jews  accepted  it,  and  that  from  among  these  few 
came  the  greatest  of  the  missionary  workers — Paul  and  Barnabas, 
Stephen  and  Philip,  Aquila  and  Apollos  and  Silas.  The  spread  of 
the  new  religion  in  the  apostoHc  age,  though  chiefly  successful  among 
the  gentiles,  was  carried  on  by  Christian  Jews. 

The  state,  as  we  have  said,  took  no  notice  of  the  Christian  mis- 
sionaries as  rehgious  .teachers  during  this  first  period.  It  was  as  safe 
to  be  a  Christian  as  to  be  a  Jew  or  an  idolater,  so  far  as  the  Roman 
government  was  concerned.  Paul  was  apprehended  and  brought 
to  trial,  but  only  on  one  occasion  was  it  made  a  ground  of  accusation 
against  him  that  he  was  a  follower  of  Jesus  (Acts  24:5),  and  Felix, 
the  Roman  procurator,  paid  no  attention  to  the  charge.  When 
the  successor  of  Felix  sent  Paul  to  Rome  to  be  tried  before  the  em- 
peror, he  confessed  that  he  had  no  definite  charge  to  send  with  him 
though  he  knew  that  Paul  differed  religiously  from  the  Jews.  What- 
ever opposition,  therefore,  the  Christian  missionaries  experienced 
from  the  Roman  government  in  the  apostolic  age — and  it  was  slight 
— was  due  to  other  causes  than  their  religious  faith. 

§9.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Name  the  two 
chief  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the  apostolic  age.  (2)  What 
value  have  the  gospels  in  this  connection  ?  (3)  What  other  writ- 
ings bear  on  the  subject  ?  (4)  How  is  Acts  related  to  the  third  gos- 
pel ?  (5)  What  light  do  Acts  and  the  epistles  throw  on  the  author- 
ship of  the  diary  ?     (6)  What  may  we  infer  from  Luke  i :  1-4  regard- 


INTRODUCTION  II 

ing  the  historical  character  of  Acts  ?  (7)  What  are  the  purpose  and 
specific  plan  of  Acts  ?     (8)  When  was  Acts  written  ? 

(9)  What  New  Testament  letters  are  widely  accepted  among 
scholars  as  of  known  authorship  ?  (10)  How  do  the  epistles 
compare  with  Acts  as  sources  for  the  history  of  the  apostohc 
age? 

(11)  How  complete  is  our  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  original 
apostles?  (12)  What  notable  gaps  are  there  in  our  knowledge  of 
the  career  of  Paul  ?  (13)  Illustrate  the  incompleteness  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  internal  history  of  the  apostolic  church. 

(14)  Define  the  apostolic  age  chronologically.  (15)  Describe 
in  general  the  theater  of  Christian  activity  in  the  apostohc  age.  (16) 
How  many  cities  and  towns  are  mentioned  in  our  sources  in  which 
the  gospel  was  planted  in  the  apostolic  age  ?  (17)  What  bearing  has 
the  fragmentariness  of  our  sources  on  the  question  of  the  extension 
of  the  gospel  in  the  apostolic  age  ? 

(18)  What  was  the  general  attitude  of  the  Jewish  church  toward 
Christianity  in  the  apostolic  age  ?  (19)  Of  what  nationality  were 
most  of  the  great  missionaries  of  that  time  ?  (20)  What  was  the 
general  attitude  of  the  Roman  government  toward  Christianity  in 
the  apostolic  age  ? 

§  ID.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to 
Literature.' — i.  From  the  study  of  the  diary,  the  so-called  "we- 
sections"  (Acts  16:10-17;  20:5 — 21:18;  27:1 — 28:31),  make  a 
narrative  of  the  experiences  that  the  author  of  Acts  shared  with 
Paul. 

2.  On  the  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the  apostolic  age,  see  espe- 
cially the  recent  works  on  New  Testament  introduction,  as  those  of 
Salmon,   Godet,   Holtzmann,   Jiihcher,   and  Bacon. 

3.  On  geography  look  up  in  any  standard  atlas  the  location  of 
the  cities  mentioned  in  §  7. 

4.  On  the  attitude  of  the  Roman  government  toward  Christianity, 
see: 

Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire,  pp.  346-60. 

'  The  literature  referred  to  in  all  the  paragraphs  with  this  heading  will  be  in  English. 
The  aim  of  the  references  is  simply  to  start  the  student  in  his  collateral  reading,  and 
hence  the  number  of  references  will  not  be  large. 


12  CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

5.  On  the  chronology  of  the  apostoHc  age,  see: 
Schiirer,  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II, 
pp.  163,  182  ff.;  Burton,  Records  and  Letters  of  the  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  201  ff., 
McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  356  ff.,  673;  Turner,  in  Hastings'  Dictionary 
oj  the  Bible,  article  on  "Chronology  of  the  New  Testament;"  Mathews,  in 
Biblical  World,  Nov.,  1897,  pp.  353  ff 


PART  I 
THE  PRIMITIVE  JEWISH  CHURCH  IN  JERUSALEM 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  DISCIPLES  RALLIED  AND  WAITING  FOR  THE  SPIRIT 
SYNOPSIS 

§11.     The   reality  of  the  resurrection.  Acts  1:1-5;    also  Gal.  1:15-17;    i 

Cor.  15:4-8;  Matt.  28;  Luke  24; 
John  20,  21 

§12.     The  ascension.  Acts  i:6-ii;Luke    24:51;    John    20:17;    21:19-22; 

Rom.  8:34;  Eph.  4:9,  10 

§  13.     The  gathering  in  Jerusalem.  Acts  1:12-14;  Luke  24:52,  53 

§14.     The  choice  of  Matthias.  Acts  1:15-26 

§  II.  The  Reality  of  the  Resurrection. — The  book  of  Acts  and 
the  apostolic  age  do  not  begin  with  Pentecost,  but  with  the  resur- 
rection. There  would  have  been  no  gathering  of  disciples  in  the 
upper  chamber  and  no  Pentecost,  had  they  not  previously  been 
convinced  that  their  Master  was  alive.  With  any  difficulties  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  our  forming  a  clear  conception  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  it  is  not  our  present  task  to  deal.  We  are  concerned 
here  with  a  simple  fact  of  history,  viz.,  that  the  makers  of  the  apos- 
tolic age  were  convinced  of  the  reality  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 
The  author  of  Acts  begins  his  record  of  the  great  period  with  this 
event.  We  must  do  the  same,  for  the  apostles  themselves  and  their 
deeds  can  not  be  understood  unless  we  hold  that  the  resurrection  of 
their  Master  was  an  absolute  reality  to  them.  We  see  a  stream  of 
creative  power  flowing  on  through  the  apostolic  age,  and  though  we 
can  not  observe  the  sources  of  that  power  and  explain  them,  we  can 
not  fail  to  see  that  the  actors  in  this  period  believed  that  the  power 
came  from  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  and  the  Spirit  of  God.  And 
whatever  mystery  may  remain  around  this  double  source  of  the 
transforming  power  manifested  in  the  apostolic  age,  we  do  not  know 
of  any  other  adequate  explanation  of  the  fact  than  that  which  we 
find  in  the  earliest  records. 

The  mode  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  and  the  nature  of  his  appearances 
to  the  disciples  may  never  become  altogether  clear,  but  no  fact  of  history  is 
better  established  than  that  the  disciples  were  convinced  of  having  met  the  risen 

15 


THE   DISCIPLES   WAITING   FOR  THE    SPIRIT  1 7 

Lord  face  to  face.  Moreover,  it  seems  impossible  to  account  for  this  conviction 
without  accepting  a  real  return  of  Jesus  to  them,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
nature  or  form  of  that  return.  For  the  conviction  of  his  resurrection  arose  when 
the  disciples  were  overwhelmed  with  sorrow;  it  persisted  to  the  end  of  their 
lives;  it  was  the  fundamental  fact  in  their  testimony;  and  their  testimony  founded 
the  Christian  church. 

§  12.  The  Ascension. — Luke  is  the  only  New  Testament  writer 
who  speaks  of  a  definite  historical  ascension  of  Jesus,  and  he  does 
this  only  in  Acts.  The  last  that  he  says  of  Jesus  in  the  gospel  is  that, 
having  blessed  the  disciples  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  he  "parted 
from  them."  The  ascension  described  in  Acts  took  place  forty 
days'  after  the  resurrection;  it  took  place  on  the  Mount  of  Ohves 
in  the  presence  of  the  apostles,  and  was  a  visible  phenomenon 
(Acts  1:9,  10).  The  event  is  evidently  thought  of  as  concluding 
the  series  of  manifestations  of  the  risen  Lord  to  the  disciples  who 
had  known  him  in  the  flesh,  preceding  his  taking  his  seat  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  than  that  the 
last  of  these  appearances  should  be  looked  upon  as  ending  in  the 
departure  of  Jesus  to  heaven  (cf.  i  Thess.  i:io). 

The  language  recording  the  ascension  is,  of  course,  that  of  appearance, 
expressing  in  the  forms  of  thought  which  were  natural  to  the  early  Christians 
(according  to  which,  e.  g.,  heaven  was  above  them)  their  interpretation  of  their 
experiences.  The  resurrection  and  the  exaltation,  between  which  the  narrative 
of  the  ascension  furnishes  a  link  of  connection,  are  conspicuous  in  the  faith  of 
the  early  church  as  reflected  in  the  New  Testament,  but  the  ascension,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  directly  mentioned  only  once  as  a  fact  of  history.  Our  belief  in 
Jesus  as  the  risen  and  reigning  Savior  would  be  the  same  had  Luke  not  written 
Acts  1:9-11.  That  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  and  was  exalted  to  a  throne  of 
power  were  fundamental  elements  of  early  Christian  faith;  but  how  he  finally 
passed  into  the  unseen  world,  at  what  time,  or  in  what  place,  these  questions  are 
plainly  unimportant. 

§  13.  The  Gathering  in  Jerusalem. ^The  disciples  were  scat- 
tered by  the  death  of  Jesus.    The  Gospel  of  Mark  records  that  Jesus 

I  The  number  forty  is  sometimes  used  symbolically  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New  Testament  (e.  g.,  Ex.  34: 28;  i  Kings  19:8;  Mark  i :  13),  and  that  is  probably 
its  use  in  the  present  case.  The  period  of  forty  days  that  preceded  the  public  ministry 
of  Jesus  was  naturally  followed  by  a  period  of  equal  length  at  the  close  of  that  ministry. 
The  latter  period  like  the  former  may  have  been  regarded  as  one  of  trial,  because 
the  risen  Lord  during  these  days  was  not  yet  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  in  glory 
and  power. 


l8  CHRISTIANITY   IN  THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

had  foreseen  that  this  would  be  the  case  (Mark  14:27).  When  he 
was  arrested,  all  the  eleven  fled,  and  only  one  or  two  of  them  are  seen 
again  until  we  come  to  the  narrative  of  the  appearances  of  the  risen 
Lord.  It  was  doubtless  the  appearance  of  Jesus  after  his  resurrec- 
tion which  reunited  the  apostles,  as  it  was  that  which  lifted  them  up 
out  of  the  weakness  and  despair  into  which  his  death  plunged  them. 
Though  we  should  perhaps  gain  a  different  impression  as  to  the 
places  of  this  reunion  from  the  third  and  fourth  gospels,  taken  alone, 
the  decisive  experience  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  Galilee  (Mark 
14:27,28;  16:7;  Matt.  26:31,  32;  28:10).  It  was  there  amid  the 
scenes  of  the  most  fruitful  labors  of  Jesus  that  we  are  to  put  that  ap- 
pearance of  him  to  more  than  five  hundred  disciples  at  once,  of 
which  Paul  makes  mention  (i  Cor.  15:6).^ 

But  though  the  apostles  had  a  decisive  experience  in  Galilee 
which  fulfilled  the  word  that  Jesus  had  spoken  before  his  arrest,  they 
returned  to  Jerusalem  before  they  began  their  great  work.  At  what 
time  exactly  and  under  what  motives  they  left  Galilee  and  went  up 
to  the  city  where  their  Lord  had  been  crucified,  it  is  not  possible  to 
determine.  The  simple  fact  that  they  went  is  evidence  that  they 
had  something  of  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  for  they  probably  had 
not  forgotten  his  word  that  their  way,  like  his,  was  to  be  one  of  suf- 
fering at  the  hands  of  their  countrymen  (e.  g..  Matt.  10:24,  25; 
Mark  13:9). 

§  14.  The  Choice  of  Matthias. — In  the  interval  between  the  re- 
turn of  the  apostles  to  Jerusalem  and  the  first  great  public  act  of 
their  ministry,  which  interval  appears  to  have  been  brief,  the  book 
of  Acts  puts  two  significant  events,  to  wit,  a  private  gathering  of  cer- 
tain disciples  for  prayer,  and  the  appointment  of  a  man  to  the  vacant 
place  of  Judas. 

It  is  noticeable  that  in  the  days  immediately  following  the  ascen- 
sion, the  apostles,  according  to  Luke's  gospel  (24:53),  were  "con- 
tinually in  the  temple,  blessing  God,"  while  the  event  of  which  Acts 
speaks,  in  the  same  situation,  is  a  private  gathering  for  prayer.  These 
events  are  certainly  not  to  be  identified.  We  know  of  no  "upper 
room"  in  the  temple  for  private  religious  assemblies,  and  it  is  alto- 
gether improbable  that,  had  there  been  such  a  room,  it  would  have 

'  See  Gilbert,  Student's  Life  of  Jesus,  pp.  328,  329. 


20  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

been  at  the  disposal  of  a  company  of  Galilean  fishermen  whose 
teacher  had  just  been  crucified  at  the  instigation  of  the  religious 
authorities  who  had  charge  of  the  temple.  We  think  of  the  meeting 
therefore,  as  in  some  private  house,  not  unlikely  in  that  room  in 
which  the  Last  Supper  had  been  celebrated,  which  may  have  been 
in  the  home  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Mark. 

The  disciples  went  to  the  temple  from  day  to  day  as  pious  Jews; 
they  met  together  for  prayer  in  a  private  room  as  xiisciples  of  Jesus, 
for  we  can  not  doubt  that  it  was  his  example  which  led  them  to  this 
simple  informal  act  of  worship.  As  to  the  object  of  their  prayer, 
the  situation  suggests  that  their  thought  was  occupied  with  the  com- 
ing kingdom  and  their  relation  to  it. 

The  second  significant  event  which  fell  in  this  interval  was  the 
choice  of  a  twelfth  apostle.  This  act  shows  that  the  eleven  had 
recovered  their  presence  of  mind,  and  also  that  they  were  conscious 
of  a  mission.  In  appointing,  as  a  successor  to  Judas,  one  who  had 
personal  knowledge  of  the  ministry  and  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
they  were  evidently  anticipating  a  work  of  bearing  witness  to  that 
resurrection  and  that  ministry.  It  accords  with  what  the  gospels  tell 
us  of  Peter,  that  he  was  the  one  to  suggest  this  choice;  it  accords 
with  the  principle  of  brotherhood  found  in  the  gospel  that  the  whole 
company  of  believers  participated  in  this  first  appointment  in  the 
church;  and  it  accords  with  the  new  conception  of  God  that  the 
disciples  did  not  proceed  to  make  use  of  the  ancient  mode  of  giving 
lots  until  they  had  first  prayed  the  Lord  to  show  them  his  will  by 
means  of  this  device.  It  illustrates  the  meagerness  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  men  who  had  walked  with  Jesus  that  these  two  who  were 
thought  worthy  even  of  a  place  with  the  eleven  apostles  are  not 
mentioned  in  the  gospels  or  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament. 

§15.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  With  what 
conviction  did  the  apostoHc  age  begin?  (2)  To  what  tw^o  sources 
must  we  attribute  the  power  of  the  apostles  and  other  disciples  ? 

(3)  Which  of  the  evangehsts  make  no  reference  to  an  ascension 
of  Jesus  ?  (4)  Describe  the  last  appearance  of  Jesus  recorded  in 
Matthew,  Luke,  John  20  and  John  21.  (5)  Describe  his  last  appear- 
ance according  to  Acts  1:6-12.  (6)  What  is  the  important  thought 
in  the  ascension  ?     (7)  How  does  the  mode  of  Jesus'  departure  from 


THE    DISCIPLES    WAITING    FOR   THE    SPIRIT  21 

the  earth  compare,  in  the  importance  assigned  to  it  in  early  Chris- 
tian thought,  with  his  resurrection  and  sitting  at  God's  right  hand  ? 

(8)  What  immediate  effect  did  the  death  of  Jesus  have  on  his 
disciples  ?  (9)  Where,  according  to  Mark  and  Matthew,  were  the  dis- 
ciples to  expect  a  vision  of  Jesus  after  his  resurrection  ?  (10)  Where 
is  it  most  probable  that  his  appearance  to  more  than  five  hundred 
disciples  took  place?  (11)  What  gave  new  life  to  the  apostles  and 
reunited  them?  (12)  What  spirit  did  they  show  by  returning  to 
Jerusalem  ? 

(13)  What  significant  events  fell  between  the  return  of  the  apostles 
to  Jerusalem  and  the  great  day  of  Pentecost  ?  (14)  Where  did  the 
apostles  spend  much  time  after  they  had  returned  to  Jerusalem  ? 
(15)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  the  meeting  for  prayer 
was  in  a  private  house  ?  (16)  In  whose  house  may  this  meeting 
have  taken  place,  and  what  other  events  may  have  occurred  in  the 
same  room?  (17)  What  did  the  choice  of  a  twelfth  apostle  show 
in  regard  to  the  state  of  mind  of  the  eleven  ?  (19)  What  constituted 
a  man  fit  to  become  the  successor  of  Judas  ?  (20)  What  candidates 
were  put  forward  by  the  company  of  believers  ?  (21)  By  what  means 
did  they  seek  to  find  out  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen  ? 

§  16.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  From  the  study  of  Acts  1 : 2-26;  Luke  24:44-53,  write  a  chapter 
introductory  to  the  history  of  the  Jewish  church  in  Jerusalem. 

2.  Search  out  and  read  carefully  the  various  addresses  of  Peter 
in  Acts  1-12. 

3.  Read  the  addresses  ascribed  to  Peter  in  Acts,  and  then  with 
these  in  mind  read  i  Peter. 

4.  Among  the  recent  general  works  on  the  apostolic  age  mention 
may  be  made  of  the  following: 

Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age  0}  the  Christian  Church,  2  vols.  1894,  95; 
McGiffert,  A  History  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age,  1897;  and  Bartlet, 
The  Apostolic  Age:  Its  Life,  Doctrine,  Worship  and  Polity,  1899. 

5.  Of  works  which  treat  of  particular  features  of  Christianity  in 
the  apostoUc  age,  the  student  is  referred  to : 

Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Romin  Empire,  1893,  and  Harnack,  History  of 
Dogma,  Vol.  I,  pp.  41-212. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST 

SYNOPSIS 

§17.  The  coming  of  the  Spirit.  Acts  2:1-13;  also  Acts  10;  19:1-7 

§18.  The  sermon  of  Peter.  Acts  2:14-36 

§  19.  The  conversion  of  three  thousand.  Acts  2:37-41 

§  20.  The  disciples  in  peace  and  favor.  Acts  2:42-47 

§  17.  The  Coming  of  the  Spirit. — At  one  of  the  private  meetings 
for  prayer  (see  Acts  i :  14),  that  one,  namely,  which  fell  on  Pente- 
cost, the  fiftieth  day  from  the  first  day  of  the  Passover  (Lev.  23:15, 
16),  hence  about  seven  weeks  after  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  some- 
thing great  and  decisive  took  place  in  the  little  circle  of  Christian 
disciples.  They  all  came  into  a  new  and  vital  sense  of  communion 
•with  God;  they  were  "filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit."  An  evidence  of 
this  new  consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God  with  them,  indeed, 
the  plainest  evidence  that  could  be  given,  is  the  fact  that  on  this  day 
and  in  the  days  following,  the  disciples  bore  witness  regarding  Jesus 
with  such  power  that  their  numbers  were  largely  and  steadily  in- 
creased.    These  are  essential  facts  of  Pentecost  and  its  results. 

The  first  of  these  facts — the  being  filled  with  the  Spirit — is  set  forth  in  Luke's 
story  with  various  details  of  a  miraculous  character.  First,  the  house  where  the 
disciples  were  gathered  was  suddenly  invaded  by  a  sound  from  heaven,  which 
was  like  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind.  Then  there  appeared  to  the  company 
something  like  tongues  of  fire,  and  one  of  these  bright  objects  rested  on  the  head 
of  each  one  present.     Straightway  all  began  to  speak  with  "other  tongues." 

This  last  detail  is  to  be  especially  noticed.  It  is  plain  from  vss.  5-12  that 
Luke  meant  a  speaking  in  foreign  languages.  It  was,  therefore,  unlike  the 
ecstatic  speech  which  we  find  in  Csesarea,  Ephesus,  and  Corinth  (Acts  10:46; 
19:6;  I  Cor.  14).  This  was  called  speaking  "with  tongues"  or  "in  a  tongue." 
It  was  a  speaking  to  God,  and  was  not  understood  without  an  interpreter  (i  Cor. 
14:2),  while  the  Pentecostal  speech  was  to  men  and  was  understood  by  the 
hearers. 

The  speaking  with  "  other  "  tongues  was,  according  to  Luke,  not  only  super- 
natural, it  was  also  temporary.  For  when  Peter  stood  up  and  spoke  to  the 
crowd  who  had  come  together,  he  addressed  all  the  different  nationalities  at 
once,  and  there  is  no  suggestion  that  he  spoke  any  language  except  his  own 


THE    DAY    OF    PENTECOST  23 

mother-tongue.  In  his  later  ministry,  according  to  Papias,  Peter  had  Mark  as 
an  interpreter,  another  evidence  that  he  had  no  supernatural  gift  of  speech  in 
foreign  languages. 

Now  as  against  the  view  of  the  text,  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  adequate 
purpose  for  the  miracle.  According  to  vs.  12  the  people  were  simply  amazed 
and  perplexed  by  the  strange  speaking.  It  did  not  convert  them.  That  was 
done  by  Peter's  sermon  in  Aramaic,  which  all  the  people  apparently  understood. 
Nor  was  the  alleged  miracle  needed  to  teach  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  was  for  all 
mankind.  Jesus  himself  had  plainly  declared  as  much  (see,  e.  g.,  Mark  14:9), 
and  the  truth  of  his  word  did  not  require  the  confirmation  of  a  spectacular  miracle. 

It  is,  in  fact,  probable  that  the  difference  between  this  event  and  those  which 
are  so  explicitly  described  by  Paul  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  lay  not  in  the 
facts  themselves,  but  that  the  peculiar  feature  of  this  narrative,  according  to 
which  the  disciples  spoke  foreign  languages  understood  by  the  hearers,  crept 
into  the  tradition  as  a  misunderstanding  of  the  fact  in  the  process  of  transmission 
from  the  event  to  the  time  when  the  story  reached  Luke.  Indeed,  even  the 
narrative  of  Luke  contains  a  clear  hint  of  the  nature  of  the  historical  event.  For 
it  was  charged  against  the  apostles  that  they  were  filled  with  new  wine.  But 
this  charge  does  not  accord  with  the  rest  of  the  narrative.  When  a  man  speaks 
in  a  foreign  tongue,  even  those  who  do  not  understand  him  do  not  get  the  impres- 
sion that  he  is  drunk.  If,  however,  the  phenomenon  was  ecstatic  speech,  the 
charge  was  quite  natural,  as  we  may  see  from  the  words  of  Paul  (i  Cor- 
14:23). 

The  value  of  Luke's  narrative  is  not  lessened  for  us  in  modern 
times,  but  rather  heightened,  if  the  underlying  reality  was  not 
a  speaking  in  foreign  tongues,  but  ecstatic  speech,  the  expression 
of  an  almost  boundless  enthusiasm.  That  the  men  whose  Master 
had  recently  been  crucified  were  now  overwhelmed  with  feelings  of 
joy  and  gratitude  so  deep  that  their  attempts  to  express  themselves 
on  "the  mighty  works  of  God"  were  momentarily  unintelligible, 
is  surely  a  striking  proof  that  the  kingdom  of  this  Master  was  the 
great  reality  for  them. 

§  18.  The  Sermon  of  Peter. — What  Luke  gives  us  as  the  sermon 
of  Peter  on  this  great  occasion  is  easily  read  in  three  minutes.  This 
fact  of  itself  suggests  that  what  we  have  is  at  best  a  short  abstract  or 
epitome  of  what  the  apostle  said.  We  may  suppose  that  a  brief 
version  had  been  handed  down  through  the  forty  or  fifty  years  that 
elasped  before  the  composition  of  the  book  of  Acts,  or  that  the  ser- 
mon, having  been  preserved  in  fuller  form,  was  epitomized  by  Luke. 
Not  only  is  it  natural  to  suppose  that  the  substance  of  a  sermon 


24  .  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

which  had  such  important  results  was  long  preserved  in  Jerusalem, 
but  the  close  relation  of  the  sermon  to  the  epistle  of  Peter,  especially 
to  the  first  chapter  of  that  epistle,  goes  far  toward  confirming  what 
appears  in  itself  wholly  natural.  And  to  this  fact  may  be  added 
the  distinctly  Petrine  tone  of  the  sermon — its  boldness,  aggressive- 
ness, and  loyalty  to  Jesus.  What  some  of  the  onlookers  ascribed  to 
drunkenness  he  declared  was  the  fulfilment  of  a  sublime  prophecy. 
He  did  not  hesitate  to  charge  his  hearers  once  and  again  with  the  cru- 
cifixion of  Jesus.  And  he  emphasized  both  the  greatness  of  Jesus 
as  seen  in  his  earthly  life  and  his  present  exaltation  and  power. 

The  first  sermon  of  the  apostolic  age  strikes  the  keynote  of  all 
its  preaching,  viz.,  that  Jesus  is  Christ  and  Lord.  What  Peter  and 
the  others  had  said  in  the  house  where  they  became  conscious  in 
some  new  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  spirit  of  God,  we  do  not  know, 
but  when  he  faced  the  throng  outside,  he  gave  a  plain,  straight 
testimony  regarding  Jesus.  He  bore  this  testimony  with  an  inspiring 
sense  that  the  "last  days"  had  come,  i.  e.,  the  time  of  the  fulfilment 
of  the  purposes  of  God,  the  time  immediately  preceding  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  and  the  restoration  of  all  things  (see  Matt.  19:28; 
Jas.  5:3).  This  period  was  now  inaugurated  by  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  on  the  whole  company  of  believers. 

The  testimony  of  Peter  culminated  in  the  assertion  of  the  messiah- 
ship  of  Jesus,  and  included  three  main  points:  (i)  Jesus  in  his  early 
life  had  been  manifestly  approved  of  God,  i.  e.,  approved  as  the 
Messiah;  (2)  God  had  raised  him  from  the  dead,  which  event  the 
Scriptures  had  before  announced;  and  (3)  the  Spirit  which  filled 
the  disciples  had  come  through  him.  The  first  two  points  fell  within 
the  personal  observation  of  Peter;  the  last  was,  of  course,  a  matter 
of  Christian  faith.  Peter  and  the  other  disciples  were  conscious  of 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit;  but  that  it  was  Jesus  who  had  given 
the  Spirit  was  not  based  on  direct  personal  knowledge,  though,  ac- 
cording to  Luke  (24:49),  Jesus  had  spoken  a  word  that  justified  the 
conclusion  of  Peter. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  hearers  probably  nothing  in  Peter's 
argument  was  more  impressive  than  the  simple  spectacle  of  Peter 
himself  and  the  other  disciples,  who  said  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had 
come  upon  them.     Their  appearance  and  Peter's  living  words  were 


THE    DAY    OF    PENTECOST  25 

an  evidence  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  also  of  a  new  wondrous 
spiritual  power. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  Peter  mentioned  the  mighty  works  of 
Jesus  as  the  great  evidence  of  God's  approval  of  him  (Acts  2:22). 
These  works  that  struck  the  senses  were  to  him  a  clearer  proof  of  the 
messiahship  of  Jesus  than  was  his  teaching.  It  seems  obvious,  how- 
ever, that  as  the  church  becomes  more  mature,  this  order  is  inverted, 
and  the  highest  evidence  of  the  messiahship  of  Jesus  is  seen  in  his 
teaching,  especially  in  his  revelation  of  God. 

§  19.  The  Conversion  of  Three  Thousand. — Peter's  sermon  had 
an  immediate  and  deep  result.  Many  of  his  hearers  were  conscience- 
smitten  and  grieved  at  the  fate  of  Jesus,  and  more  than  this,  they 
were  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Peter's  claim.  It  is  not  possible  to 
say  just  what  in  his  sermon  wrought  so  powerfully  upon  them.  They 
themselves  may  not  have  been  able  to  say,  and  different  ones  would 
probably  have  given  differing  answers.  Peter's  appeal  to  the  facts 
of  the  life  of  Jesus,  his  assertion  that  he  and  others  were  personal 
witnesses  of  the  resurrection,  and  that  the  resurrection  was  in 
accord  with  Scripture,  were  elements  adapted  to  convince  the  in- 
tellect of  the  hearers.  But  we  can  not  hold  that  these  arguments, 
however  forcible,  were  the  ultimate  power  involved  in  producing 
the  result.  The  analogy  of  other  great  religious  movements  suggests 
that,  after  all,  the  decisive  factor  was  something  intangible,  spiritual, 
mysterious,  in  short,  the  presence  and  the  power  of  God.       -^ 

The  personal  and  practical  counsel  of  Peter  is  no  less  remarkable 
than  his  demonstration  of  the  messiahship  of  Jesus.  He  describes 
the  way  of  salvation  in  the  simplest  terms.  It  is  repentance  for  sin 
and  baptism  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  this  baptism  resting  on  the  belief 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Peter  speaks  of 
baptism  into  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  not,  as  in  Matt.  28:19,  into 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Baptism  into  the  name  of  Jesus  is  the  only  form  mentioned  in  the 
book  of  Acts  and  the  New  Testament  epistles. 

In  connection  with  the  number  of  conversions,  which  Luke  puts 
approximately  at  3,000,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  according  to 
vss.  5-1 1  the  Jews  from  abroad  were  largely  represented  at  Pente- 
cost, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  more  open  to  the 


26.  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

appeal  of  the  gospel  than  were  the  Jews  of  the  homeland.  An  illus- 
tration of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that,  while  we  know  definitely' 
of  but  one  Jewish-Christian  community  in  Palestine  in  the  apostohc 
age,  viz.,  that  in  Jerusalem,  we  find  evidence  of  an  influential  Jewish 
element  in  most  of  the  great  churches  abroad,  as  in  those  of  Antioch 
in  Syria,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  and  Rome. 

§  20.  The  Disciples  in  Peace  and  Favor. — Between  the  day  of 
Pentecost  and  the  healing  of  the  lame  man  at  the  door  of  the  temple 
lay  a  period  of  uncertain  length.  The  life  of  the  disciples  during 
this  time  is  broadly  sketched  by  Luke  in  a  half-dozen  verses  that  are 
surcharged  with  interest.  His  account  breathes  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel. 

As  was  natural,  the  men  who  had  known  Jesus  were  the  first  teachers 
of  the  little  community,  and  the  picture  of  Luke  suggests  some  of  their 
teachings.  Thus,  in  characterizing  the  disciples  as  those  who 
"believed,"  i.  e.,  believed  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  the  narrative 
doubtless  intimates  what  was  central  in  the  apostles'  teaching.  To 
accept  this  one  article  of  faith  and  to  hold  it  in  love  was  to  be  "  saved" 
(vs.  47).  The  account  also  gives  prominence  to  the  fellowship  of 
those  who  had  come  to  believe  in  Jesus,  and  this  feature  of  their  life, 
reflecting  a  fundamental  element  of  the  gospel,  may  be  taken  as  sug- 
gesting another  subject  of  apostolic  teaching  in  those  days.  The 
spirit  of  this  fellowship  is  seen  in  the  rare  generosity  with  which  the 
disciples  used  their  possessions  for  one  another's  need.  The  dis- 
tinction between  mine  and  thine  was  lost  in  an  overflowing  love. 

How  far  this  fellowship  led  the  disciples  to  live  together  and  to  eat  together, 
to  be  a  community  wholly  by  themselves,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Essenes,  it  is 
not  possible  to  say.  If  the  "breaking  of  bread"  refers  to  a  common  meal  to- 
gether, as  some  scholars  have  held,  it  obviously  suggests  that  the  other  daily 
meals  were  not  taken  in  common,  but  this  understanding  of  the  phrase  is  extremely 
doubtful.  We  are  rather  to  take  it  as  referring  to  the  memorial  supper.  For 
(i)  the  breaking  of  bread  is  mentioned  in  the  midst  of  spiritual  features — prayer, 
Christian  fellowship,  and  "apostles'  teaching" — which  leads  us  to  think  that  it 
stands  for  something  more  than  a  meal  for  the  satisfaction  of  hunger;  and  (2) 
Luke  elsewhere  once  uses  the  same  expression,  where  it  plainly  has  a  religious 
significance  (Luke  24:35),  and  also  employs  very  similar  language  which  it  is 
impossible  to  refer  simply  to  a  common  meal  (Acts  20:7,  11).     Further,  it  is 

I  Paul  refers  in  a  general  way  to  "churches"  of  Judea,  Gal.  1:22;    i  Thess.  2:14. 


THE   DAY   OF   PENTECOST  27 

to  be  noted  that  Paul,  of  whom  Luke  was  a  disciple,  gives  prominence  to  the 
breaking  of  the  bread  in  the  Lord's  Supper  (i  Cor.  10:16;  11:24).  It  seems, 
therefore,  most  probable  that  the  phrase  designates  the  memorial  supper.  This 
explanation  suits  vs.  46,  where  "breaking  bread  at  home"  is  parallel  to  "con- 
tinuing in  the  temple;"  but  continuing  in  the  temple  was,  of  course,  for  worship, 
and  hence  the  breaking  of  bread  is  naturally  understood  of  a  religious  act.  It 
will  be  obsers-ed  that  this  breaking  of  bread  was  "day  by  day,"  which  suggests 
that  the  supper  was  relatively  more  conspicuous  than  it  is  now;  and  it  will  also 
be  noticed  that  it  was  a  home  observance.  The  language  allows  us  to  think 
that  it  was  even  a  family  celebration,  but  the  impulse  to  fellowship,  which  was 
so  prominent  a  feature,  makes  it  more  likely  that  companies  larger  than  a  single 
family  usually  kept  it  together. 

This  observance,  then,  was  a  subject  on  which  of  necessity  the  new  converts 
must  receive  instruction  from  the  apostles.  Another  subject  may  have  been 
that  of  prayer.  As  praying  had  characterized  the  disciples  before  the  day  of 
Pentecost  (cf.  Acts  i :  14,  24),  so  it  continued  to  characterize  the  larger  fellowship 
in  the  days  immediately  succeeding.  And  the  reference  here  (vs.  42)  is  probably 
not  to  participation  in  the  temple  service,  but  to  a  distinctive  Christian  feature 
of  the  life  of  the  disciple.s. 

§21.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  When  did  the 
feast  of  Pentecost  occur  ?  (2)  What  are  the  essential  facts  in  the  story 
of  the  great  day  of  Pentecost  as  told  in  Acts,  chap.  2  ?  (3)  What 
historical  evidence  have  we  that  something  extraordinary  took  place 
among  the  disciples  on  that  day  ?  (4)  What  promise  was  fulfilled 
by  the  "coming  of  the  spirit"?  What  are  the  miraculous  details 
in  Luke's  narrative  of  Pentecost,  Acts  2:1-6?  (5)  How  did  the 
speaking  with  "other  tongues,"  as  described  in  Acts,  differ  from  the 
speaking  "with  tongues,"  as  spoken  of  by  Paul  in  i  Cor.  ?  (6)  What 
was  the  effect  of  speaking  with  other  tongues  on  Pentecost^?  (7)  By 
what  were  the  people  converted  ?  (8)  Are  we  to  suppose  that  the 
disciples  were  given  power  to  speak  foreign  languages  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  as  a  sign  that  the  gospel  was  for  all  mankind  ?  (9)  What 
is  the  most  probable  explanation  of  the  origin  of  this  narrative  ? 
(10)  How  is  its  value  for  us  affected  if  we  regard  the  underlying  event 
as  nothing  else  than  ecstatic  speech  ? 

(11)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  we  have  in  Acts  2 
the  substance  of  Peter's  sermon?  (12)  What  is  the  keynote  of 
the  sermon?  (13)  Mention  three  main  points.  (14)  What  prophecy 
did  Peter  see  fulfilled  in  the  experience  of  the  disciples  on  the  day  of 


28  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

Pentecost?  (15)  In  what  did  Peter  see  the  chief  evidence  of  God's 
approval  of  Jesus?  (16)  On  what  element  do  we  lay  greater  stress 
at  the  present  time  ? 

(17)  What  was  the  immediate  effect  of  Peter's  sermon?  (18) 
What  was  the  decisive  factor  in  producing  that  effect?  (19)  How 
did  Peter  define  the  way  of  salvation  ?  (20)  Into  what  name  did  he 
baptize  ?  (21)  What  helps  to  account  for  the  large  number  of  con- 
verts on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  (22)  What  were  some  of  the  subjects 
of  apostolic  teaching  ?  (23)  In  what  way  was  the  spirit  of  fellow- 
ship manifested?  (24)  What  did  Luke  mean  by  the  "breaking  of 
bread"?  (25)  What  noticeable  features  of  the  early  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  does  this  passage  suggest  ? 

§  22.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  making  special  study 
of  Peter's  sermon  and  of  the  facts  regarding  Christ  on  which  the 
early  church  laid  special  emphasis. 

2.  What  was  Paul's  estimate  of  speaking  with  tongues? 

3.  Where  do  we  meet  with  this  phenomenon  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment church  ? 

4.  What  two  words  constituted  the  essential  creed  of  the  apostohc 
age? 

5.  What  distinguished  Jewish-Christians  of  the  apostolic  age 
belonged  to  the  Dispersion  ? 

6.  The  Jews  of  the  Dispersion:  the  countries  through  which 
they  were  scattered;  their  number  and  standing;  the  influence 
exerted  by  them  on  the  Greeks  and  Romans  and  by  the  latter  on 
them. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  JERUSALEM 
SYNOPSIS 

§23.  A  lame  man  healed  by  Peter.  Acts  3:1-10 

§  24.  Peter's  address  in  Solomon's  porch.  Acts  3:11-26 

§  25.  The  first  attempt  to  suppress  the  new  movement.  Acts  4:1-31 

§26.  The  union  and  communion  of  believers.  Acts  4:32-36 

§  27.  Ananias  and  Sapphira.  Acts  5:1-11 

§28.  Signs  and  wonders  wrought  by  the  apostles.  Acts  5:12-16 

§29.  The  second  attempt  to  suppress  the  new  movement.  Acts  5:17-42 

§  23.  A  Lame  Man  Healed  by  Peter. — The  "many  wonders  and 
and  signs  done  through  the  apostles,"  to  which  Luke  referred  at  the 
close  of  the  last  chapter,  are  represented  by  a  single  case,  which  may 
have  been  remembered  because  of  its  important  consequences.  This 
is  the  first  recorded  sign  wrought  by  an  apostle  and  the  only  one 
ascribed  to  the  earliest  period  of  which  any  particulars  are  given. 

According  to  the  gospels,  miracles  of  healing  were  wrought  by  the  apostles 
during  the  life  of  Jesus,  bat  no  details  of  such  miracles  have  been  preserved. 
In  the  apostolic  age,  even  at  the  first,  miracles  of  healing  are  far  less  conspicuous 
than  in  the  gospels.  The  book  of  Acts  mentions  but  three  signs  done  by  any  of  the 
twelve  apostles,  and  these  were  all  wrought  by  Peter.  It  is  doubtful,  therefore, 
whether  many  specific  instances  had  been  preserved  to  the  time  when  Acts  was 
composed. 

It  is  on  the  occasion  of  this  first  recorded  sign  in  Acts  that  a  second 
apostle  comes  forth  into  a  certain  prominence  by  the  side  of  Peter, 
viz.,  the  apostle  John.  He  continues  to  be  associated  with  Peter 
until  the  conversion  of  Samaria  (Acts  8:14),  after  which  time  Peter 
appears  alone.  No  other  of  the  twelve  is  mentioned  by  name  in 
Acts  after  the  first  chapter  except  James  (Acts  12:2). 

The  story  of  the  healing  of  the  lame  man  is  of  importance  in  itself 
because  it  indicates  how  the  apostles  wrought  their  signs.  We  do 
not  know  what  words,  if  any,  they  had  spoken  in  connection  with 
healing  when  sent  out  two  by  two  in  Galilee ;  but  now  when  Peter 
looks  on  the  lame  man  and  bids  him  walk,  it  is  "in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ."     That  name  is  in  some  way  the  secret  of  his  cure.     Jewish 

29 


30  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE 

exorcists  used  various  names,  sometimes  even  that  of  Jesus  (Acts 
19: 13).  Peter  also  used  the  name  of  Jesus,  but  used  it  in  faith.  He 
declares  explicitly  that  the  healing  was  due  to  faith.  That  which  he 
"has"  and  which  he  can  give  to  the  lame  man  (vs.  6)  is  the  benefit  of 
his  own  strong  faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  i.  e.,  in  Jesus  himself.  Yet 
he  does  not  regard  this  faith  as  the  final  explanation  of  the  healing. 
He  traces  the  miracle  to  the  power  of  the  covenant  God  of  Israel, 
and  evidently  regards  his  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  human  means  by 
which  that  power  had  been  appropriated. 

§  24.  Peter's  Address  in  Solomon's  Porch. — The  first  recorded 
Christian  sermon  was  in  or  near  a  private  house  (Acts  2:2,  6,  11); 
the  second,  which  we  are  now  considering,  was  within  the  precincts 
of  the  temple  (Acts  3:11),  viz.,  in  the  eastern  colonnade.  The  heal- 
ing also  had  been  on  this  side  of  the  outer  court,  and  the  location  both 
of  the  heahng  and  the  subsequent  address  led  easily  to  a  conflict  with 
the  temple  authorities. 

Peter  made  four  statements  that  must  have  been  particularly 
obnoxious:  (i)  He  charged  that  his  hearers  and  the  rulers,  in  con- 
demning Jesus,  had  been  guilty  of  an  especially  flagrant  violation  of 
law,  for  they  had  overridden  the  judgment  of  Pilate  who  was  deter- 
mined to  release  Jesus.  They  had  also  asked  the  life  of  one  who 
was  known  to  be  a  murderer,  thus  aggravating  their  sin.  (2)  Peter 
asserted  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  claiming  that  he  and  others  had 
been  personal  witnesses  thereof.  (3)  He  claimed  that  the  name  of 
this  crucified  Jesus  had  made  this  lame  man  strong.  And  (4)  he 
declared  that  Jesus,  who  was  the  Christ  and  the  "Servant"  of 
Old  Testament  prophecy,  would  come  again  from  heaven.  His 
arraignment  of  the  Jews  on  account  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  although 
somewhat  softened  by  the  thought  that  they  had  acted  in  ignorance, 
was  more  severe  than  that  of  his  first  sermon  (Acts  2:23),  and  his 
exaltation  of  Jesus  was  more  varied  and  emphatic. 

Thus  the  character  of  Peter's  address  was  obviously  such  as  to 
arouse  the  opposition  of  the  rulers,  while  at  the  same  time  its  bold 
and  aggressive  tone  was  fitted  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  multitude 
and  to  draw  them  to  him.  The  stress  which  he  laid  on  the  future 
appearing  of  Jesus  not  only  helped  to  offset  the  humiliation  of  the 
cross  in  the  minds  of  the  hearers,  but  also  served  to  kindle  their  hope. 


GROWTH    OF   THE    CHURCH   IN   JERUSALEM  3 1 

§  25.   The  First  Attempt  to  Suppress  the  New  Movement. — We 

have  seen  that  Peter's  address  was  fitted  to  make  a  deep  impression 
and  when,  therefore,  we  are  told  that  the  number  of  believers  came 
to  be  about  5,000  men  (Acts  4:4),  we  are  prepared  to  see  in  this  an 
approximate  estimate  of  the  sudden  increase. 

We  need  not  suppose  that  anyone  counted  the  new  converts  that 
night  after  Peter  had  finished  speaking,  or  that  the  converts  all 
declared  themselves  at  once;  but  we  may  hold  as  historical  that  the 
words  and  deed  of  Peter  bore  abundant  fruit  in  the  immediate  future. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  apostles  were  interrupted  by  the  temple 
authorities,  and  were  put  in  ward.  Nothing  less  could  have  been  ex- 
pected, for  though  they  were  still  pious  Jews,  they  were  Jews  who 
saw  the  fulfilment  of  Judaism  in  Jesus  whom  the  rulers  had  put  to 
death  as  a  false  Messiah.  The  imprisonment  of  the  apostles  was 
only  until  the  next  day,  when  a  formal  trial  could  be  held.  They 
were  locked  up  merely  for  safe  keeping,  lest  they  should  escape,  or 
their  friends  should  combine  and  make  their  arrest  difficult.  In 
the  procedure  against  them  the  Sadducces  appear  to  have  been  prom- 
inent, their  opposition,  according  to  Luke,  being  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  apostles  proclaimed  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  a  doctrine  which 
they  rejected  (Matt.  22:23). 

The  seriousness  of  the  situation  which  the  deed  and  words  of 
Peter  had  created  is  reflected  in  the  fact  that  at  the  hearing  of  the 
apostles,  the  highpriestly  family  was  fully  represented  (vs.  6).  Annas 
and  Caiaphas  were  present — the  former  being  called  the  highpriest 
because  he  had  previously  held  the  office,  though  it  was  now  held  by 
his  son-in-law,  Caiaphas.  John  and  Alexander  never  filled  the  high- 
priest's  office.* 

The  apostles  were  twice  brought  before  the  council.  At  their 
first  appearing  they  were  asked  to  account  for  the  healing  of  the  lame 
man,  and  Peter  made  answer,  with  a  boldness  and  ability  which, 
amazed  them,  that  the  man  had  been  healed  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
the  only  name,  he  added,  in  which  there  is  messianic  deliverance. 
At  the  second  appearing  of  the  apostles,  they  were  strictly  commanded 
not  to  teach  at  all  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  when  they  declared  that 
they  must  continue  to  teach  what  they  had  seen  and  heard,  they  were 
threatened  and  dismissed. 


32  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

The  rulers  were  perplexed.  They  saw  in  these  men  the  same 
spirit  which  they  had  seen  in  Jesus,  and  the  deed  of  healing  was  one 
which  could  not  be  denied.  These  things  were  freely  admitted  in 
their  council,  as  also  their  fear  that  this  new  teaching  would  spread 
further  among  the  people.  But  the  most  that  they  dared  to  do  was 
to  threaten  the  apostles — an  evidence  that  the  popular  sentiment 
was  strongly  with  the  Christian  movement. 

The  failure  of  the  attempt  to  silence  Peter  and  John,  when  reported 
to  the  remaining  apostles  or  to  these  in  company  with  other  believers, 
made  a  deep  impression.  With  one  accord  they  turned  to  God  in  a 
prayer  which  was  marked  by  an  increase  of  holy  boldness.  It  was 
plain  to  all  that  the  recent  opposition  to  Jesus  and  the  present  opposi- 
tion to  his  disciples  was  a  fulfilment  of  the  second  Psalm,  and  there- 
fore part  of  a  divine  plan.  The  threatenings  of  their  enemies  could 
not  avail  against  him  who  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  the 
sea.  The  narrative  closes  with  the  significant  statement  that  all 
the  company  showed  that  boldness  which  they  had  sought  from  God 
in  prayer,  which  is  a  proof  that  they  were  filled  with  the  Spirit.  The 
shaking  of  the  earth,  which  is  said  to  have  accompanied  their  inner 
experience,  may  be  regarded  in  the  same  way  as  the  "sound"  that 
filled  the  house  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

§  26.  The  Union  and  Communion  of  Believers. — As  the  first 
critical  event  in  the  relation  of  believers  to  the  world,  viz.,  the  event  of 
Pentecost,  is  followed  in  the  narrative  by  a  reference  to  the  remark- 
able condition  of  believers  in  their  relation  to  each  other,  so  also 
is  the  second  critical  event.  The  picture  of  the  inner  condition  is 
now  drawn  with  somewhat  more  of  detail  and  with  greater  vividness, 
but  its  essential  thought  remains  the  same.  The  entire  company  of 
believers  were  still  animated  with  such  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  that 
they  had  all  things  in  common.  The  poor  were  not  suffered  to  feel 
any  lack.  Apparently  there  were  not  a  few  who  needed  help,  for 
houses  and  lands  were  sold  from  time  to  time  that  distribution  might 
be  made.  This  readiness  to  share  with  the  brother  in  need  was  rightly 
regarded  as  evidence  that  the  favor  of  God  was  signally  bestowed  on 
the  community.  There  were,  indeed,  some  among  them  who  did 
not  possess  this  spirit  (e.  g..  Acts  5:1-11),  and  some,  probably  the 
majority  of  those  who  did  possess  it,  did  not  dispose  of  all  their  prop- 


34  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

crty.  What  Barnabas  sold  was  a  field;  presumably  he  did  not  sell 
his  house.  And  we  learn  incidentally  that  Mary,  the  mother  of 
John  Mark,  did  not  sell  her  house  (Acts  12:12).  The  language  of 
Luke  in  vs.  34  is  general  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  be- 
lievers, at  least  as  a  rule,  sold  the  houses  in  which  they  lived.  They 
were  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  love,  but  not  by  the  spirit  of  unreason. 

§27.  Ananias  and  Sapphira. — The  story  of  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira  is  introduced  not  as  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  in  Acts 
4:34,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  the  contrast  it  presents  to  the  case  of 
Barnabas,  but  because  of  its  effect  (Acts  5:11).  The  incident,  while 
showing,  indeed,  that  the  fair  picture  of  the  preceding  verse  was  not 
without  dark  shadows,  contributed  in  its  way  to  the  prestige  of  the 
apostles,  to  a  wholesome  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  membership  in 
the  new  community,  and  so  to  the  growth  of  the  Christian  body. 

The  sin  of  Ananias  and  his  wife  was  hypocrisy,  that  sin  against 
which  Jesus  had  spoken  oftener  than  against  any  other.  They 
wished  the  honor  of  complete  devotion  to  the  brotherhood  without 
paying  the  full  price.  They  agreed  to  deceive  Peter  and  the  rest 
in  regard  to  the  sum  of  money  which  their  land  had  brought.  It  is 
plain,  therefore,  that  they,  like  Simon  of  Samaria  (Acts  8:9),  had 
only  the  most  superficial  apprehension  of  the  character  of  the  gospel. 
They  had  simply  been  taken  in  its  net,  which  then,  as  in  all  subse- 
quent times,  gathered  bad  fish  with  the  good. 

The  relation  of  Peter  to  the  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  appears  to  be 
plain.  We  are  not  told  how  he  knew  that  Ananias  was  lying.  We  should 
assume,  therefore,  that  he  read  it  on  his  face  and  in  his  manner.  When  he 
exposed  the  man's  inner  thought  and  purpose,  declaring  that  his  attempt  to 
deceive  was  an  attempt  to  deceive  God  rather  than  men,  Ananias  fell  down 
dead.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Peter  spoke  no  word  of  judgment.  He  only- 
uncovered  the  sin.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  he  had  any  idea  that  death 
was  about  to  fall  on  the  man  before  him. 

But  when,  three  hours  later,  Peter  heard  from  Sapphira  the  same  lie  which 
her  husband  had  acted,  it  was  natural  that  he  anticipated  for  her  the  same  fate 
which  had  befallen  him.  He  did  not  assume  to  pass  sentence  of  death  in  her 
case  any  more  than  in  that  of  her  husband.  Though  his  declaration  to  her  may 
have  so  affected  her  mind  as  to  have  contributed  to  cause  her  death,  it  was  evi- 
dently not  uttered  with  this  intent.  Rather  is  his  confidence  that  she  would 
straightway  fall  a  prey  to  death  evidence  that  he  regarded  the  death  of  Ananias 
as  a  supernatural  judgment.     So  also  was  it  probably  regarded  by  Luke.     But 


GROWTH    OF   THE    CHURCH   IN   JERUSALEM  35 

whether  this  explanation  of  the  event  is  the  coirect  one  is  a  fair  question  to  raise. 
We  have  no  right  to  assume  that  the  cause  of  death  was  supernatural  if  it  can 
be  accounted  for  on  natural  grounds.  A  death  is  plainly  not  supernatural  merely 
because  it  is  sudden  and  seemingly  opportune.  Many  a  man  has  dropped 
dead  in  circumstances  apparently  less  awful  for  heart  and  conscience  than  were 
those  which  suddenly  confronted  Ananias.  The  improbabihty  that  his  wife 
would  succumb  just  as  he  had  is  doubtless  very  great,  but  obviously  it  can  not 
be  said  to  be  impossible  that  one  explanation  should  cover  both  cases. 

It  need  scarcely  be  pointed  out  that  the  view  of  the  death  of  Ananias  as  a 
supernatural  divine  judgment  accords  neither  with  the  method  of  Jesus  in  dealing 
with  the  sin  of  hypocrisy  nor  with  the  character  of  God  as  revealed  in  Jesus. 

§  28.  Signs  and  Wonders  Wrought  by  the  Apostles. — To  the 
growth  of  the  church,  according  to  Acts,  the  mighty  works  of  the 
apostles  contributed  in  a  conspicuous  manner,  although,  as  already 
pointed  out,  the  author  specifies  only  three  miracles  as  wrought 
by  the  original  apostles.  For  some  time  after  the  arraignment  of 
Peter  and  John,  the  apostles  and  other  believers  were  allowed  to  meet 
in  Solomon's  porch,  where  we  may  suppose  that  they  bore  their  power- 
ful witness  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  (Acts  4:33),  and  where,  it 
may  be,  some  of  the  signs  mentioned  in  Acts  5:12  were  wrought.  ^ 
That  their  activity  here  must  constantly  have  been  hateful  to  the 
temple  authorities  is  self-evident.  It  was  tolerated  for  a  time  because 
of  the  extent  of  the  popular  favor. 

In  this  period  of  relative  quiet  considerable  numbers  of  men  and 
women  were  added  to  the  Lord,  i.  e.,  by  baptism  into  the  name  of 
Jesus,  and  Peter  became  more  prominent  than  ever  as  a  healer  of 
disease.  Enthusiasm  for  him  ran  so  high  that  some  people  believed 
his  shadow  would  effect  cures — a  superstitious  veneration  parallel  to 
that  of  the  woman  who  touched  the  garment  of  Jesus  (Mark  5:28), 
and  to  that  of  the  Ephesians  who  took  aprons  and  handkerchiefs 
which  had  been  in  contact  with  the  body  of  Paul  and  carried  them  to 
those  who  were  sick  (Acts  19: 12).  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however, 
in  considering  this  incident,  that  even  superstitious  ideas  may  be  the 
channels  of  divine  blessing.  Men  may  have  been  helped  by  the 
shadow  of  Peter  as  well  as  by  the  garment  of  Jesus.  The  mingling 
of  superstition  with  faith  does  not  destroy  its  value. 

'  The  verbs  in  5: 12-16  are  imperfects,  descriptive  of  what  took  place  through  an 
indefinite  period. 


36  ■  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

§  29.    The  Second  Attempt  to  Suppress  the  New  Movement. — 

The  interval  between  the  imprisonment  of  Peter  and  John  and  the 
imprisonment  of  all  the  apostles  was  probably  short,  for  the  apostles, 
by  disregarding  the  threats  of  the  temple  authorities  as  well  as  by 
their  increasing  and  successful  activity,  were  daily  becoming  a  more 
formidable  power,  and  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  would  not 
have  allowed  the  rulers  long  to  postpone  their  second  attempt  to 
check  the  dangerous  movement. 

The  attitude  of  the  rulers  had  grown  more  determined,  for  they 
now  believed  that  the  aim  of  the  apostles  was  to  get  revenge  for  the 
death  of  Jesus,  and  they  saw  that  the  new  teaching  had  filled  Jeru- 
salem (vs.  28).  This  more  determined  attitude  is  seen  (i)  in  the 
fact  that  all  the  apostles  were  seized,  and  not  merely  Peter  and  John; 
and  (2),  in  the  fact  that  they  were  beaten,  and  not  simply  threatened. 

The  opposition  now  as  in  the  earlier  case  was  headed  by  the  Sad- 
ducees,  while  the  man  whose  counsel  prevailed,  and  who,  humanly 
speaking,  saved  the  lives  of  the  apostles,  was  a  Pharisee  (vs.  34).  The 
apostles  were  put  in  prison  over  night,  but  when  wanted  the  next 
morning  they  were  found  not  in  the  prison,  but  in  the  temple.  Of 
the  circumstances  of  their  deliverance  we  have  no  certain  informa- 
tion. Luke  appears  to  have  regarded  it  as  miraculous,  ascribing  it 
to  an  angel  of  the  Lord.  It  is  not  clear,  however,  why  they  should 
have  been  delivered  by  a  miracle  only  to  be  rearrested  at  daybreak. 

The  apostles  when  brought  before  the  council  were  charged  with 
complete  disregard  of  the  commandment  which  had  been  laid  upon 
them  (Acts  4:18),  and  frankly  admitted  that  the  charge  was  true. 
At  the  same  time  they  claimed  to  have  obeyed  God.  They  might 
have  stopped  at  this  point,  but  they  regarded  the  occasion  as  an 
opportunity  to  bear  witness  of  the  resurrection  which  they  could  not 
let  pass. 

The  result  of  Peter's  words — for  he  spoke  for  the  apostles — was 
that  the  rulers  were  inflamed  with  rage,  and  would  have  proceeded 
to  extreme  measures  had  not  Gamaliel  intervened.  The  weight  of 
his  influence  checked  the  purpose  to  slay  the  apostles,  and  they 
escaped  with  merely  a  beating. 

Gamaliel  thought  it  possible  that  God  was  in  this  rehgious  move- 
ment, and  therefore  favored  a  policy  of  non-intervention.     If,  how- 


GROWTH    OF   THE    CHURCH    IN   JERUSALEM  37 

ever,  God  was  not  in  it,  then,  he  argued,  it  would  come  to  naught  of 
itself,  as  their  own  history  taught.'  The  counsel  of  Gamaliel  was 
accepted,  though  in  a  somewhat  modified  form,  for  the  beating  of 
the  apostles  was  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  that  counsel.  Thus 
the  second  attempt  of  the  authorities  to  suppress  the  new  movement 
failed,  and  even  the  temple  itself  was  not  closed  to  the  preaching  of 
the  apostles. 

§  30.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  was  the 
first  sign  wrought  by  an  apostle  of  which  we  have  any  details  ?  (2) 
To  what  may  we  attribute  the  preservation  of  this  story  ?  (3)  How 
many  signs  by  the  twelve  apostles  are  recorded  in  Acts  ?  (4) 
What  apostle  appears  with  Peter  in  connection  with  this  first  sign, 
and  when  does  he  disappear  from  the  story  ?  (5)  Wherein  does  the 
importance  of  the  story  chiefly  lie  ?  (6)  How  did  Peter  use  the 
name  of  Jesus  ?  (7)  To  what  power  did  he  ascribe  the  healing  ?  (8) 
What  part  did  his  faith  in  Jesus  have  in  the  deed  ? 

(9)  Locate  the  place  of  delivery  of  Peter's  first  and  second  ser- 
mons. (10)  Name  four  statements  in  his  second  sermon  that  must 
have  been  obnoxious  to  the  rulers.  (11)  What  was  the  tone  of  Peter's 
address?     (12)  What  was  its  effect  on  the  multitude? 

(13)  What  sect  was  prominent  in  the  first  attempt  to  suppress 
the  apostles  ?  (14)  Name  four  leading  members  of  the  Sanhedrin. 
(15)  Describe  what  took  place  at  each  of  the  two  appearances  of  the 
apostles  before  the  rulers.  (16)  Why  were  the  rulers  perplexed  by 
the  situation?  (17)  What  effect  did  the  apostles'  report  of  their  trial 
have  on  the  company  of  believers  ? 

(18)  What  was  the  internal  condition  of  believers  in  the  days  sub- 
sequent to  the  imprisonment  of  Peter  and  John?     (19)  How  is  the 

■  According  lo  Luke's  report,  Gamaliel  cited  two  instances  in  support  of  his 
position,  that  of  Theudas  and  that  of  Judas  of  Galilee.  He  placed  Theudas  first  in 
time.  Now  Judas  of  Galilee,  or  of  Gaulonitis  (cf.  Josephus,  Antiq.,  i8.  i .  i),  perished 
because  of  his  opposition  to  the  census  of  the  year  7  A.  D.,  and  we  have  no  knowledge 
of  a  revolutionist  by  the  name  of  Theudas  who  lived  before  this.  Josephus  tells  of  a 
Theudas  who  lived  in  the  procuratorship  of  Cuspius  Fadus,  which  began  in  44  a.  d., 
and  what  he  says  of  him  agrees  with  the  statement  in  Acts  (cf.  Antiq.,  20.5.  i).  We 
are  then  obhged  to  assume  that  there  were  two  men  by  the  name  of  Theudas  who 
played  the  same  role  and  met  the  same  fate,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  that  the  incident 
of  Acts  5 :  36  is  an  addition  to  the  speech  of  Gamaliel. 


38"  CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

statement  to  be  understood  that  so  many  as  had  houses  or  lands  sold 
them  ?  (20)  For  what  purpose  was  the  story  of  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira  introduced?  (21)  What  was  their  sin?  (22)  How  did  Peter 
probably  detect  this  ?  (23)  How  did  his  relation  to  Sapphira  differ 
from  his  relation  to  Ananias  ?  (24)  How  did  he  regard  the  fate  of 
Ananias  and  Sapphira?  (25)  What  are  some  of  the  reasons  for 
accepting  another  explanation? 

(26)  To  what  extreme  did  enthusiasm  for  Peter  run?  (27)  How 
were  those  on  whom  his  shadow  fell  healed  ?  (28)  How  long  an  in- 
terval separated  the  first  and  second  imprisonment  of  the  apostles  ? 
{29)  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  rulers  at  the  time  of  the  second 
imprisonment?  (30)  Who  still  led  the  opposition?  (31)  What 
charge  was  brought  against  the  apostles,  and  how  did  they  meet  it  ? 
(32)  What  effect  did  Peter's  words  have  on  the  rulers  ?  (33)  What 
was  the  argument  of  Gamaliel  ?  (34)  What  was  the  outcome  of  the 
second  attempt  to  suppress  the  gospel? 

§  31.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  growth  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  using, 
perhaps,  the  following  outhne: 

a)  Peter's  success  in  preaching  and  healing. 

h)  The  fellowship  of  the  church. 

c)  The  attempt  to  suppress  the  new  movement. 

2.  What  does  Josephussay  about  the  Pharisees  (Antiq.,  18.  i.  3)  ? 

3.  What  does  he  say  about  the  Sadducees  (Antiq.,  18.  1.4)? 

4.  Where  in  Acts  is  the  word  "church"  first  used,  and  what  does 
it  mean  ? 

5.  What  does  Josephus  say  about  the   Zealots  (Antiq.,  18.  1.6)? 

6.  For  list  of  the  highpriests  see: 

Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  0}  Jesus  Christ,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I, 
p.  197-200. 

7.  On  the  relation  of  the  "Senate  of  the  Children  of  Israel"  to 
the  Sanhedrin  see : 

Schiirer.  op.  cit.,  Div.  i,  Vol   II,  p.  167. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  THE  SEVEN  AND  THE  MARTYRDOM  OF 
STEPHEN 

§32.    The  appointment  of  the  Seven.  Acts  6:1-7 

^^^.    The  martyrdom  of  Stephen.  Acts  6:8— 8:ia 

§32.  The  Appointment  of  the  Seven. — The  narrative  of  the 
appointment  of  seven^  men  to  have  charge  of  the  charities  of  the 
church,  while  serving  as  an  introduction  to  the  stor}^  of  the  first 
Christian  martyr,  has  a  value  of  its  own.  Thus,  in  the  first  place,  it 
shows  that  the  new  spirit  of  brotherhood  was  not  yet  strong  enough 
to  obhterate  the  old  prejudice  of  the  Hebrews  against  the  Grecian 
Jews.  Those  designated  "Hebrews"  were  residents  of  Palestine, 
and  hence  spoke  the  Aramaic  language,  while  the  "Hellenists"  were 
Jews  from  abroad  who  spoke  Greek  and  who  in  greater  or  lesser  de- 
gree had  been  afl'ected  by  Greek  civilization.  Natives  of  the  Holy 
Land,  who  had  not  come  into  any  close  contact  wath  the  gentiles, 
naturally  looked  askance  at  their  brethren  from  abroad  who  in  vari- 
ous particulars  bore  the  stamp  of  a  non- Jewish  nationality.  This 
prejudice  showed  itself  within  the  church.  Those  who  had  in  hand 
the  distribution  of  food  or  money  discriminated  against  the  Hellenists 
— a  procedure  which  may  have  been  rendered  relatively  easy  by  "the 
meagerness  of  the  funds  at  their  disposal.  Because  of  this  discrim- 
ination the  Hellenists  made  complaint  on  behalf  of  those  of  their 
number  who  needed  aid  but  did  not  receive  it. 

Again,  this  narrative  has  a  value  of  its  own,  inasmuch  as  it  shows 
that  in  the  settlement  of  the  first  trouble  in  the  apostolic  church,  a 
democratic  spirit  prevailed.  The  multitude  were  called  together, 
the  multitude  approved  the  suggestion  of  the  apostles,  and  the  multi- 
tude chose  the  men  who  should  henceforth  have  the  care  of  the 

'  The  work  for  which  the  Seven  were  appointed  corresponded  to  that  which 
was  assigned  at  a  later  day  to  those  who  were  called  "  deacons. "  Nevertheless,  Luke 
does  not  give  them  this  name,  and  there  is  no  indication  in  the  New  Testament  that 
they  were  a  permanent  part  of  the  organization  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  Uhlhorn, 
Christian  Charity  in  the  Ancient  Church,  1883,  supposes  that  they  developed  into 
elders  as  the  apostles  withdrew  from  Jerusalem. 

3Q 


40.  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

poorer  brethren.  The  a])ostles,  as  the  oldest  in  Christian  experi- 
ence and  as  those  who,  in  their  acquaintance  with  Jesus,  had  enjoyed 
special  opportunity  of  knowing  his  mind,  had  a  moral  right  and  duty 
to  tell  what  sort  of  men  should  be  selected  (vs.  3),  and  after  the  choice 
had  been  made,  to  consecrate  the  men  unto  their  work  by  a  rehgious 
service  (vs.  6).  They  did  not  themselves  choose  the  seven  men  on 
the  ground  of  their  apostolic  dignity,  nor  did  they  reject  any  of  those 
whom  the  multitude  had  named.  They  assumed  that  the  whole 
body  of  believers  was  qualified  to  judge  whether  a  man  was  full  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  wisdom.  They  did  not  question  the  choice  of  the  multi- 
tude: they  simply  approved  it. 

The  act  of  laying  hands  on  the  men  who  had  been  chosen  was  an 
ancient  Jewish  custom  (e.  g.,  Deut.  34:9),  common  also  in  the  vari- 
ous ordinations  in  the  synagogue.  It  was  symbohc  of  the  bestowal 
of  blessing,  either  physical  or  spiritual  (Mark  7:32;    Matt.  19:13). 

It  is  significant  that  the  names  of  the  seven  men  are  all  Greek. 
It  does  not  follow,  of  course,  that  all  the  men  were  Hellenists,  for 
Palestinian  Jews,  as  in  the  case  of  the  apostles  Andrew  and  Philip, 
sometimes  had  Greek  names;  but  the  fact  that  all  seven  names  are 
Greek  favors  the  view  that  the  Hellenists  were  largely  represented 
on  the  board  of  charities.  The  appointment  of  Nicolas,  who  was 
not  only  a  Hellenist,  but  also  a  proselyte,  indicates  that  the  pre- 
judice of  the  Palestinian  Jews  was  not  shared  by  the  multitude;  in 
other  words,  when  taken  together  with  the  fact  that  the  seven  names 
are  all  Greek,  it  may  suggest  that  the  believers  at  this  time  were 
largely  Hellenists. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  church  in  the  days  when  the  board  of 
charities  was  established  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by  Luke  as 
connected  with  that  fact.  And  the  appointment  of  the  Seven  may, 
indeed,  have  helped  in  two  ways:  (i)  The  apostles  were  thereby  re- 
leased from  all  care  of  the  poor,  and  were  able  to  give  themselves  wholly 
to  prayer  and  the  word,  and  (2)  the  spiritual  power  of  the  brotherhood 
of  believers  as  a  whole  may  well  have  been  increased  by  the  removal 
of  that  which  had  been  a  source  of  hard  feeling.  Thus  by  the  failure 
of  the  rulers  to  check  the  new  movement  and  by  the  better  adminis- 
tration of  the  internal  affairs  of  the  church,  the  way  was  prepared 
for  a  triumph  of  Christian  testimony  even  among  the  priests  (Acts  6 : 7). 


APPOINTMENT    OF   THE    SEVEN  4I 

^  T,^.  The  Martyrdom  of  Stephen. — The  dramatic  story  of 
Stephen,  in  the  course  of  which  we  are  introduced  to  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
falls  into  three  parts :  (a)  his  arrest  (6 : 8-15) ;  (b)  his  defence  (7 : 1-53) ; 
and  (c)  his  death  (7:54 — 8:ia). 

a)  The  arrest  of  Stephen. — Stephen  was  chosen  to  "serve  tables," 
but  he  soon  proved  himself  a  veritable  apostle.  The  language  em- 
ployed to  describe  his  deeds  is  stronger  than  that  with  which  Luke 
refers  to  the  deeds  of  the  Twelve.  He  was  a  man  of  power,  not  merely 
of  power  to  work  wonders  and  signs,  but  of  intellectual  power  to  pre- 
sent and  defend  the  gospel,  and  of  spiritual  insight  into  the  essential 
nature  of  the  new  doctrine  of  Christ;  a  man  who  also  possessed  the 
power  that  comes  from  sublime  courage.  His  career  soon  aroused 
a  more  bitt.r  opposition  than  had  been  provoked  by  Peter. 

The  opposition  to  Stephen  came  from  the  Hellenists,  particularly 
from  members  of  five'  synagogues.  First  of  these  was  the  synagogue 
of  the  Libertines,  that  is,  probably,  of  Jews  who  had  once  been  Ro- 
man slaves  or  of  the  descendants  of  such.  Cyrene,  half-way  between 
Carthage  and  Alexandria  on  the  north  coast  of  Africa  and  directly 
south  of  Greece,  was  the  home  of  those  Jews  who  formed  the  second 
synagogue.  The  third  was  composed  cf  Jews  from  Alexandria,  the 
fourth  of  Jews  from  Cilicia,  Saul's  native  province,  and  the  fifth,  of 
Jews  from  the  province  of  Asia,  whose  capital  was  Ephesus.  The 
fact  that  so  many  Hellenistic  synagogues  were  involved  in  the  oppo- 
sition to  Stephen  testifies  to  the  extent  of  his  influence.  We  may 
suppose  that  he  had  visited  these  synagogues  and  borne  his  testi- 
mony in  them. 

The  ground  of  the  opposition  can  not  be  definitely  made  out. 
The  witnesses  whose  testimony  is  introduced  by  Luke  are  said  to 
have  been  false,  and  yet  we  may  probably  infer  from  their  words  the 
general  character  of  Stephen's  offensive  utterances.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that,  influenced  by  the  words  of  Jesus,  he  spoke  of  the  destruction 
of  the  temple,  though  he  can  scarcely  have  declared  that  this  would 
be  directly  by  Jesus,  i.  e.,  at  his  second  advent.  Then,  remembering 
how  Jesus  had  laid  stress  on  the  inward  rather  than  the  outward, 
and  remembering  also  his  words  about  the  fulfilment  of  the  law, 

'  The  view  that  this  passage  refers  to  five  synagogues,  though  not  necessarily 
required  by  the  Greek,  appears  on  the  whole  preferable. 


42.  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE 

Stephen  may  well  have  said  that  the  customs  of  Moses  were  not 
essential  to  salvation. 

The  appearance  of  Stephen  when  brought  before  the  Sanhcdrin 
on  the  charge  of  blasphemy  was,  according  to  the  language  of  Luke^ 
something  extraordinary,  but  not  necessarily  supernatural.  We  may 
believe  that  his  face  was  strikingly  transfigured  by  the  confidence 
he  had  in  Jesus  and  by  the  conviction  that  what  he  had  said  was  true. 

b)  The  defense  oj  Stephen. — The  longest  speech  which  has  been 
preserved  from  the  apostolic  age  is  also  in  respect  to  its  content  one 
of  the  most  remarkable. 

Its  relation  to  the  Old  Testament  in  particular,  is  worthy  of  notice,  for  it 
diverges  at  many  points  and  widely.  This  divergence  is  the  more  worthy  of 
notice  because  of  its  bearing  on  the  genuineness  of  the  speech.  The  more  impor- 
tant instances  are  as  follows:  (i)  Stephen  speaks  of  an  appearance  of  God  to 
Abraham  while  he  yet  dwelt  in  Mesopotamia,  before  he  migrated  to  Haran. 
The  Old  Testament  knows  nothing  of  this.  The  first  divine  commandment  to 
Abraham  is  that  which  was  given  in  Haran  (Gen.  12:1).  (2)  Words  that  accord- 
ing to  Ex.  3:12  were  spoken  to  Moses  are  introduced  by  Stephen  as  spoken  to 
Abraham.  (3)  Stephen  gives  the  number  of  people  who  went  down  into  Egypt 
as  seventy-five,  in  this  point  agreeing  with  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  differing  from  the  Hebrew  Old  Testament,  where  the  number  is 
always  seventy  (Gen.  46:27;  Ex.  1:5;  Deut.  10:22).  (4)  Stephen  confounds 
Abraham's  purchase  of  a  field  from  Ephron,  the  Hittite,  in  Machpelah  near 
Mamre,  with  Jacob's  purchase  of  a  parcel  of  ground  from  the  sons  of  Hamor 
in  Shechem  (Gen.  23;  33:19-20;  50:13).  (5)  The  Old  Testament  says  that 
Moses  was  eighty  years  old  when  he  stood  before  Pharaoh  (Ex.  7:7),  and  also 
says  that  he  was  "grown  up"  at  the  time  when  he  slew  the  Egyptian  and  fled 
into  Midian  (Ex.  2:11);  but  it  is  Stephen  who  divides  the  eighty  years  into  two 
equal  parts.  (6)  The  view  that  the  angel  who  appeared  to  Moses  in  the  bush 
was  also  with  him  in  Egypt  (Acts  7:35),  the  statement  that  an  angel  spoke  to 
Moses  on  Mount  Sinai  (Acts  7:38),  and  also  the  statement  that  the  law  was 
ordained  by  angels  (Acts  7:53),  are  all  pecuHar  to  Stephen.  They  are  not  found 
in  the  Old  Testament.  (7)  The  Old  Testament  makes  no  reference  to  the  worship 
of  Moloch  or  of  Rephan  by  Israel  in  the  wilderness.  Stephen  gets  these  names 
from  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  as  does  he  also  the  name  Baby- 
lon, where  Amos  5:27  has  Damascus. 

Now  these  points  of  divergence  from  the  Old  Testament  favor  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  speech,  for  they  are  more  readily  understood  as  occurring  in  an  extem- 
pore address  of  a  Jew  accustomed  to  the  Septuagint,  the  Greek  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  acquainted  with  Jewish  tradition,  than  as  part  of  an 
imaginary  reproduction  of  Stephen's  speech  made  by  Luke  who  was  not  a  Jew. 


APPOINTMENT    OF   THE    SEVEN  43 

Stephen's  speech  is  called  a  defense.  It  was  also  an  arraign- 
ment of  his  accusers,  its  central  thought  being  that  they  were  resisting 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  their  fathers  had  done  before  them. 

Abraham,  indeed,  was  spiritually  minded,  but  the  sons  of  Jacob 
withstood  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  yet  more  plainly  did  the  Israel  of 
Moses'  day.  They  resisted  him  in  Egypt  and  all  through  the  jour- 
ney of  the  wilderness.  Moreover,  at  a  later  day,  in  thinking  of  God 
as  an  earthly  king,  one  who  dwells  in  temples  made  with  hands,  they 
resisted  the  Spirit  that  spoke  through  the  prophets  (e.  g.,  Is.  66:  i:-2). 

This  speech  furnishes  no  ground  for  the  charge  of  blasphemy 
against  Moses  (Acts  6:ii),  or  that  Stephen  had  spoken  against  the 
temple.  And  yet,  since  it  exalts  the  spiritual  above  the  material, 
after  the  manner  of  the  prophets,  it  shows  clearly  enough  that  Stephen 
may  have  made  statements  regarding  Moses  and  the  temple  which 
to  the  legal  ritualistic  Jews  would  have  seemed  blasphemous. 

c)  The  death  oj  Stephen. — It  appears  obvious  that  Stephen  did 
not  finish  his  speech.  As  a  Christian  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of 
wisdom  he  had  more  to  say  about  Jesus  than  that  he  had  been 
betrayed  and  murdered  by  the  rulers.  He  had  a  positive  message 
as  well,  of  which  we  have  a  hint  in  the  exclamation  that  came  from 
his  hps  when  it  was  apparent  that  his  auditors,  instead  of  listening 
longer  to  his  words,  would  put  him  to  death  (vs.  56). 

Now  the  rage  of  the  rulers  which  broke  in  upon  the  speech  of 
Stephen  is  to  be  attributed  to  his  personal  charges  against  them 
rather  than  to  anything  he  had  said  about  Moses  (vs.  54).  They 
are  accused  of  resisting  the  Spirit  and  of  murdering  Jesus.  For  this 
they  gnash  upon  him  with  their  teeth;  and  when  Stephen  declares 
that  he  sees  Jesus  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  they  stone  him.  He  is 
sacrificed,  therefore,  not  only  because  he  holds  heretical  views  re- 
garding Moses  and  the  temple,  but  especially  because  of  the  charge 
of  dreadful  guilt  which  he  brings  against  his  judges,  and  because  of 
the  vivid  testimony  he  bears  to  the  messiahship  of  that  Jesus  whom 
they  had  recently  caused  to  be  crucified. 

The  death  of  Stephen  was  apparently  accomplished  not  only 
without  the  sanction  of  the  Roman  governor,  which  the  law  required, 
but  also  without  any  formal  sentence  of  the  Sanhedrin.  It  was  a 
passionate   and  lawless  deed.     That   Stephen,   rather   than   Peter, 


44  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

was  the  lirst  Christian  martyr  was  probably  due  to  the  temper  and 
abihty  of  the  man,  more  than  to  the  substance  of  his  teaching.  If 
he  was  also  a  Hellenist,  his  accusation  of  the  Jerusalem  authorities 
would  have  been  especially  offensive. 

§34.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Define  the 
meaning  of  "Hebrew"  and  "Hellenist."  (2)  What  caused  the 
Hellenists  among  the  Christians  to  murmur  ?  (3)  What  spirit  was 
manifested  in  the  method  of  the  appointment  of  the  Seven  ?  (4) 
What  part  did  the  apostles  have  in  this  appointment  ?  (5)  What  is 
suggested  by  the  names  of  the  Seven  ?  (6)  In  what  ways  may  the 
appointment  of  the  Seven  have  furthered  the  success  of  the  gospel  ? 

(7)  Into  what  parts  does  the  story  of  Stephen  fall  ?  (8)  Whence 
did  the  opposition  to  Stephen  come  ?  (9)  Define  the  sources  from 
which  the  members  of  the  five  synagogues  of  Acts  6:9  came.  (10) 
What  was  the  probable  ground  of  the  opposition  to  Stephen?  (11) 
Name  seven  points  in  which  the  speech  of  Stephen  departs  from  the 
Hebrew  Old  Testament.  (12)  What  bearing  do  these  points  have 
on  the  genuineness  of  the  speech  ?  (13)  What  is  the  central  thought 
of  the  address  of  Stephen  ?  (14)  In  what  general  manner  does  the 
speech  lend  support  to  the  charges  against  Stephen?  (15)  What 
ground  is  there  for  thinking  that  Stephen  was  not  allowed  to  finish 
his  speech  ?  (16)  What  were  the  chief  reasons  why  he  was  stoned  ? 
(17)  Wherein  was  his  death  illegal  ? 

§  35.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  appointment  of  the  Seven,  using,  perhaps, 
the  following  outline: 

a)  The  need  of  such  appointment. 

b)  The  apostles'  action  in  the  matter. 

c)  The  accusation  against  Stephen. 

2.  On  the  "Dispersion"  consult: 

Schiirer,  History  0}  the  Jewish  People,  Vol.  II,  p.  31;  Mathews,  A  History 
oj  New  Testament  Times  in  Palestine,  pp.  157,  158,  and  Gilbert,  Student's  Life  of 
Paul,  pp.  3-8. 

3.  On  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  read : 
E.  Nestle  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  article  on  "Septuagint." 


PART  II 

EXTENSION  OF  THE  GOSPEL  TO  THE  GENTILES,  OCCA- 
SIONED BY  PERSECUTION 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  WORK  OF  PHILIP  THE  EVANGELIST 

SYNOPSIS 

§  36.    The  church  in  Jerusalem  scattered  by  persecution.  Acts  8:1-3 

§  37.    The  work  of  Philip  in  the  city  of  Samaria.  Acts  8:4-25 

§  38.    Philip  and  the  Ethiopian  treasurer.  Acts  8:26-40 

§36.   The   Church    in   Jerusalem   Scattered  by  Persecution. — 

The  period  between  Pentecost  and  the  persecution  which  broke  out 
with  the  death  of  Stephen  may  be  roughly  estimated  at  two  years, 
that  is,  from  30  to  32  a.  d.,  assuming  that  Pentecost  was  in  the  year 
30.  Accordingly  the  movement  of  events  in  the  first  seven  chapters 
of  Acts  must  be  thought  of  as  rapid,  a  conclusion  which,  of  course, 
suits  the  nature  of  those  events.  This  time  of  relatively  quiet  de- 
velopment was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  new  movement  was  wholly 
loyal  to  the  temple  and  to  Jewish  law.  But  when  a  man  arose  who 
not  only  saw  the  inner  nature  of  this  outgrowth  from  Judaism,  but 
who  also  clearly  declared  it,  the  effect  of  his  words  was  immediate 
and  far-reaching. 

The  first  general  persecution  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  though  it 
originated  with  the  Hellenists  and  though  its  leading  spirit  was  a 
Cilician  Jew,  was  authorized  by  the  rulers  in  Jerusalem  (cf.,  e.  g., 
Acts  9:2),  and  was  doubtless  heartily  furthered  by  them.  Once,  at 
least,  they  had  thirsted  for  the  blood  of  the  apostles  (Acts  5 :33),  and 
later  circumstances  must  have  kept  their  spirit  of  opposition  at  the 
fever  point  (e.  g..  Acts  5 142 ;  6:7).  The  death  of  Stephen,  although 
lamented  by  some  of  the  Jews,  was  a  welcome  signal  for  a  general 
crusade  against  the  believers  in  Jesus — a  crusade  which,  even  had 
there  been  no  Stephen,  must  soon  have  been  set  on  foot. 

In  this  persecution  men  and  women  were  committed  to  prison 
(Acts  8:3);  they  were  beaten  in  the  synagogues  to  the  end  that  they 
might  blaspheme  the  name  of  Jesus  (Acts  26: 11),  and  some  were  put 
to  death  (Acts  26:10).  Many  fled  for  their  hves,  perhaps  remem- 
bering the  word  of  Jesus  that  when  persecuted  in  one  city  they  should 


4^  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

flee  to  the  next  (Matt.  10:23).  The  statement  that  all  were  scattered 
abroad  except  the  apostles  is  obviously  general  in  its  nature;  even 
vs.  3  shows  that  many  remained  in  Jerusalem,  hoping  to  escape  the 
storm  by  keeping  quiet  in  their  houses.  Those  who  fled  were  in 
some  cases  followed  by  the  persecutors  to  towns  more  or  less  distant 
from  Jerusalem  (Acts  26:11). 

§  37.  The  Work  of  Philip  in  the  City  of  Samaria.— The  effort 
to  stamp  out  the  Christian  movement  resulted  in  its  vigorous  promo- 
tion. Many  of  those  who  fled  from  Jerusalem  became,  for  a  time 
at  least,  evangelists,  and  preached  the  word  in  Judea,  Samaria,  Phoe- 
nicia, Cyprus,  and  Antioch  (Acts  8:1;  11:19).  I^  i^  probable  that 
most  of  the  fugitives  lived  outside  of  Jerusalem,  and  when  the  perse- 
cution broke  out  they  simply  started  for  their  old  homes. 

Philip,  one  of  the  Seven,  afterward  called  an  evangelist  (Acts  21:8), 
whose  home  was  in  Caesarea  (Acts  8:40;  21:8),  was  apparently  on 
his  way  home  when  he  preached  in  Samaria,  for  this  city  was  on  the 
main  thoroughfare  between  Jerusalem  and  Caesarea.  It  was  the 
chief  city  in  Samaria,  and  from  the  time  of  Herod  the  Great,  to  whom 
it  had  been  given  by  Augustus,  it  bore  the  name  "  Sebaste,"'  in  honor 
of  the  royal  donor.  It  was  some  three  hours'  walk  from  Scbaste  to 
the  village  of  Sychar,  where,  according  to  John,  Jesus  had  once 
stopped  and  had  been  welcomed  by  the  Samaritans.  Whether  the 
ground  had  been  prepared  for  Philip  by  this  sojourn  of  Jesus  we  can 
not  say.  It  certainly  is  not  necessary  to  assume  such  a  preparation 
in  order  to  explain  the  evangelist's  success,  for  he  is  represented  as  a 
man  of  power,  like  Stephen,  both  to  preach  (Acts  8:26-39)  ^-nd  to 
work  signs   (Acts  8:6-7). 

Among  those  whom  Philip  baptized  was  a  man  who  had  long  been 
well  known  in  Samaria,  and  who  was  destined  to  become  widely 
known  in  the  church,  an  adept  in  sorcery  like  that  Bar- Jesus  whom 
Paul  encountered  in  Paphos  (Acts  13:6).  He  was  regarded  as  an 
incarnation  of  divine  power,  and,  indeed,  as  the  pre-eminent  incar- 
nation. Therefore  it  was  a  notable  triumph  when  Philip  turned 
many  away  from  Simon  to  Christ,  and  a  triumph  also,  though  less 
significant,  when  Simon  himself  submitted  to  baptism. 

Simon  evidently  regarded   Philip  as  a  brother  sorcerer  who  had 

I  From  the  Greek  word  having  the  same  meaning  as  Augustus. 


50  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

some  secrets  which  he  himself  did  not  possess.  He  therefore  con- 
tinued with  Philip  in  the  hope  of  learning  these  secrets.  He  too 
would  like  to  be  able  to  cast  out  demons,  to  heal  the  palsied  and  lame, 
not  thereby  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  of  which  he  appears  to 
have  had  no  true  conception,  but  solely  to  promote  his  own  glory.  His 
amazement  at  Philip's  signs  became  greater  when  he  saw  the  effects 
produced  by  the  laying-on  of  the  apostles'  hands,  of  which  effects 
one  may  have  been  the  gift  of  ecstatic  speech  (Acts  19:6). 

As  Simon  himself  had  been  baptized,  and  was  to  all  outward 
appearances  a  true  believer,  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the 
apostles  passed  by  him  when  they  laid  their  hands  on  the  new  con- 
verts. It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  if  they  laid  their  hands 
upon  him,  he  experienced  any  spiritual  uplifting  from  the  act,  for 
he  had  no  true  faith  in  his  heart.  But  his  failure  to  experience  any 
strange  effect  from  the  apostolic  touch  did  not  blind  his  eyes  to  the 
effects  produced  in  others,  and  accordingly  he  made  the  apostles  a 
cash  offer  for  their  powerful  secret.  He  did  not  covet  the  Spirit  for 
himself,  but  only  the  ability  to  confer  it  on  others.  It  is  therefore  plain 
that,  as  Peter  said,  he  had  no  part  or  lot  in  the  gospel  (vs.  21).  He 
regarded  it  all  as  a  superior  kind  of  sorcery,  and  just  for  that  reason 
he  was  intensely  interested  in  it.  As  the  curtain  falls  upon  him,  he 
is  still  Simon  the  sorcerer,  for  he  is  asking  Peter  to  use  his  influence 
to  protect  him  from  any  evil  to  which  his  temerity  might  have  ex- 
posed him. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  narrative  was  written  a  good  many  years 
after  the  events  which  are  described.  In  that  interval  the  name  and  importance 
of  apostles  had  been  magnified  in  the  church.  They  were  now  thought  of  as  an 
official  body,  without  whose  sanction  the  work  of  the  new  kingdom  could  not  be 
consummated.  Ideas  current  when  Luke  wrote  are  reflected  to  some  extent  in 
the  story  of  a  time  before  those  ideas  arose.  Thus,  at  Pentecost,  and  again  in 
the  time  of  Paul's  conversion,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  plainly  not  thought 
of  as  dependent  upon  an  act  of  the  apostles  (Acts  2  :  39;  9:17). 

§  38.  Philip  and  the  Ethiopian  Treasurer. — The  essential  part 
of  this  narrative  is  plainly  the  meeting  of  Philip  with  the  Ethiopian. 
Just  how  this  meeting  was  brought  about,  and  where,  are  questions 
on  which  Luke  does  not  enable  us  to  arrive  at  definite  conclusions. 
He  appears  to  have  regarded  them  as  incidental. 


WORK    OF    PHILIP   THE    EVANGELIST  5 1 

A  message  of  some  sort  reached  Philip  while  in  Samaria,  calling 
him  to  go  to  a  road  that  ran  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza,  and  perhaps 
directing  him  to  station  himself  at  the  ruins  of  old  Gaza,  a  httle  north 
of  the  new  town.  Responding  to  this  message'  he  met  or  overtook 
the  Ethiopian  on  the  road. 

This  man,  since  he  had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  worship,  must  have 
been  a  proselyte,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  meditating  on  Isa.  53  gives 
some  color  to  the  view  that  he  had  heard  of  Jesus  while  in  Jerusalem, 
and  was  now  searching  the  Scriptures  with  reference  to  the  Messiah. 
While  thus  engaged,  he  drove  near  the  spot  where  Philip  was  waiting; 
and  he,  recognizing  that  this  was  the  opportunity  for  which  he  had 
journeyed  from  distant  Samaria,  ran  to  the  chariot  and  entered  into 
conversation  with  the  man  who  was  reading.  The  outcome  was 
that  the  Ethiopian,  at  his  OAvn  request,  was  baptized  by  the  wayside. 
The  men  then  parted,  and  Philip  started  again  for  Caesarea.  In  the 
towns  through  which  he  passed,  as  Jamnia  and  Joppa,  he  preached 
the  gospel,  just  as  before  he  had  stopped  to  preach  in  Samaria. 

This  story  of  Philip  and  the  Ethiopian  is  valuable,  not  only  for 
the  hght  it  throws  on  the  methods  of  an  early  evangelist,  but  also, 
and  especially,  for  its  suggestion  that  the  seed  of  the  gospel  was 
widely  scattered,  even  from  the  first,  by  means  of  foreign  Jews  and 
proselytes  who  came  to  Jerusalem  to  worship. 

§  39.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  About  how 
long  a  time  intervened  between  Pentecost  and  the  first  persecution 
of  disciples  ?  What  fact  accounts  for  the  relatively  undisturbed 
development  of  this  period?  (2)  With  whom  did  the  first  general 
persecution  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  originate,  and  what  was  the 
attitude  of  the  rulers  toward  it  ?  (3)  What  was  done  with  believers 
who  were  seized  ?  (4)  How  is  the  statement  to  be  taken  that  all  were 
scattered  except  the  apostles  ?     (5)  How  did  the  persecution  pro- 

I  The  meaning  of  the  message  is  not  wholly  clear.  Thus  was  PhiUp  to  go  at 
noon,  or  go  southward?  Was  it  the  road  or  Gaza  itself  that  was  "desert"?  The 
obscurity  that  covers  the  messenger  and  attaches  also  to  the  message  may  have  come 
from  the  fact  that  Philip's  life  would  have  been  in  danger  if  the  persecutors  in  Jeru- 
salem had  known  his  whereabouts.  It  is  plain  that  whoever  brought  him  the  message 
knew  of  the  movements  of  the  Ethiopian  treasurer,  and  considered  Philip  the  best 
man  to  approach  him  with  the  offer  of  the  gospel. 


52-  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

mote  the  Christian  movement  ?  (6)  Who  was  Phihp,  and  where  was 
his  home?  (7)  Where  was  the  city  of  Samaria?  (8)  How  near  to 
it  had  Jesus  labored  ?  (9)  What  was  Simon  of  Samaria,  and  how 
was  he  regarded  by  the  people  ?  (10)  How  did  Simon  regard  Phihp  ? 
(ti)  What  did  Simon  think  of  the  gift  of  the  Spirit? 

(12)  What  is  the  essential  fact  in  the  narrative  of  Philip  and  the 
Ethiopian?  (13)  Whither  was  Philip  called?  (14)  Who  was  the 
Ethiopian,  and  why  was  he  in  Jerusalem  ?  (15)  What  was  he  reading 
when  he  passed  Philip  ?  (16)  To  whom  does  the  prophet's  language 
in  this  chapter  refer?  See  Isa.  52:13.  (17)  Of  whom  did  the  early 
church  find  in  this  passage  a  description  ?  See  vs.  35  and  compare 
Acts  3:26.  (18)  What  conception  of  the  Messiah  does  this  involve? 
(19)  What  was  the  outcome  of  Phihp's  teaching?  (20)  Mention 
other  instances  in  which  the  gospel  message  was  brought  to  a  single 
person.  (21)  Whither  did  Phihp  go  after  his  meeting  with  the 
Ethiopian  ?     Through  what  prominent  towns  did  his  road  pass  ? 

§  40.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  Philip,  having  an  outhne  somewhat  as 
follows:  His  home;  his  work  in  Jerusalem;  his  work  in  Samaria; 
his  journey  to  Gaza  to  preach  to  a  single  soul;  the  character  of  his 
message  to  the  Eunuch. 

2.  Look  up  the  references  to  the  Samaritans  in  the  gospels. 

3.  How  far  were  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus  from  Jerusalem,  and 
what  w^re  their  chief  cities  ? 

4.  On  Simon  as  a  false  Messiah  read : 
McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  90,  100. 

5.  What  was  the  capital  of  Ethiopia,  and  how  far  was  it  from 
Jerusalem  ? 

6.  Regarding  proselytes  consult : 

Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  pp. 
291-327. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  LIFE  OF  PAUL  BEFORE  HIS  CON\^ERSION 

SYNOPSIS 

§41.    His  family  and  political  status.         Acts  22:3;  Phil.  3:5;  Acts  26:4,  5; 

22:28 
§42.    His  early  ejivironment  and  education  in  Jerusalem.  Acts  21:39;  22:3 

§43.    His  career  as  a  persecutor.         Acts  8:3;  9:1,  2;  22:4,  5;  26:9-11;  Gal. 

1:13 

§41.  His  Family  and  Political  Status. — Our  knowledge  re- 
garding the  family  of  Paul  is  very  slight.  He  himself  never  men- 
tions father  or  mother,  brother  or  sister.  He  was  born  in  Tarsus, 
but  was  of  pure  Jewish  descent.  This  is  implied  in  his  saying  that 
he  was  a  Hebrew  of  Hebrews  (Phil.  3:5),  and  is  implied  also  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin  (Acts  26:10),  for  none 
but  pure  Jews  could  sit  in  that  court  (cf.  Schiirer,  Jewish  People, 
etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I,  p.  176).  We  know  from  Paul's  word  to  the  chief 
captain  in  Jerusalem  that  his  father  was  a  Roman  citizen  (Acts 
22:28);  but  we  can  not  infer  from  this  that  his  family  was  wealthy, 
even  moderately  so.  The  bestowal  of  Roman  citizenship  on  Jews 
was  not  dependent  on  the  amount  of  their  property.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  fact  that  Paul  learned  a  trade  (Acts  18:3)  is  no  evidence 
that  his  father  was  poor,  for  the  rabbis  taught  that  it  was  every  man's 
duty  to  teach  his  son  a  trade.  Nor  should  we  see  a  proof  of  wealth 
in  the  fact  that  Paul  was  educated  in  Jerusalem,  for  near  relatives 
of  his  family  may  have  lived  there  (cf.  Acts  23:16),  and  in  any  case 
the  cost  of  instruction  was  probably  small. 

The  word  of  Paul  to  Agrippa  that  he  had  hved  after  the  straitest 
sect  of  the  Jews'  rehgion  (Acts  26:5),  also  his  saying  before  the  Sanhe- 
drin: "I  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of  Pharisees"  (Acts  23 : 6),  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  man  when  we  first  meet  him  in  Acts,  suggests  that  in  his 
father's  house  there  was  a  zealous  observance  of  the  law.  We  may 
also  safely  infer  from  these  facts  that  he  was  carefully  instructed  in 
the  Scriptures  from  earliest  youth.  What  Josephus  says  of  the  train- 
ing of  all  Jewish  children,  though  manifestly  somewhat  exaggerated, 

53 


54  CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

may  well  have  been  applicable  in  a  good  degree  to  Paul.  He  says 
that  the  children  learned  the  law  as  soon  as  they  became  sensible  of 
anything,  and  had  it  engraven  on  their  souls,  so  that  they  could  tell 
the  whole  of  it  more  easily  than  they  could  tell  their  own  names. 

By  the  side  of  Paul's  Pharisaic  descent  stands  next  in  order  of 
importance  the  fact  that  he  was  born  a  Roman  citizen  (Acts  22:28). 
This  would  have  meant  a  good  deal  to  him  even  if  he  had  passed 
his  Hfe  in  Tarsus ;  it  meant  more  to  him  in  his  world-wide  travels  as 
a  Christian  missionary.  The  chief  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship 
were  three:  trial  by  Roman  courts,  freedom  from  dishonorable 
punishments,  like  scourging  and  crucifixion,  and  the  right  of  appeal 
to  Caesar.  It  is  true  Paul  suffered  much  injustice,  chiefly  at  the 
hands  of  the  Jews,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen, 
but  it  is  also  true  that  his  citizenship  saved  him  from  much  injustice. 
We  know  that  it  secured  his  honorable  release  from  prison  in  Phihppi, 
that  it  saved  him  from  scourging  in  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  dehvered 
him  at  last  from  the  plots  of  the  Jews  by  taking  him  to  Caesar's  bar. 

§42.  His  Early  Environment  and  Education  in  Jerusalem. — 
Paul  was  proud,  not  only  of  his  Roman  citizenship,  but  also  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  Tarsus.  This  city  was  on  the  Cydnus 
River  in  level  Cilicia,  twelve  miles  from  the  Mediterranean  coast  and 
about  515  miles  northwest  from  Jerusalem.  For  a  century  before 
Paul's  birth  Tarsus  had  been  free,  and  therefore  possessed  impor- 
tant rights  and  privileges.  It  controlled  its  own  finances,  had  juris- 
diction over  its  own  citizens  and  over  foreigners  while  they  sojourned 
there,  and  enjoyed  freedom  from  the  Roman  land-tax  and  from  a 
Roman  garrison. 

Tarsus  ranked  with  Athens  and  Alexandria  as  a  center  of  educa- 
tion and  culture.  Strabo  who  studied  in  Tarsus  a  Httle  before  the 
time  of  Paul  ranked  it  above  these  cities  in  philosophy  and  general 
education,  and  he  also  says  that  in  his  day  Rome  was  full  of  learned 
men  from  Tarsus  and  Alexandria.  It  was  the  home  of  the  poet 
Aratus  (270  b.  c),  from  whose  words  Paul  quoted  in  the  Areopagus 
address  (Acts  17:28).  On  an  ambitious  and  alert  mind  like  Paul's 
the  passing  of  boyhood  in  a  large  city  which  was  famous  the  world 
over  for  its  devotion  to  letters,  a  city  in  which  the  Greek  language 
was  spoken  and  where  one  saw  something  of  the  best  civilization  of 


LIFE   OF   PAUL   BEFORE   HIS   CONVERSION  55 

the  age,  can  hardly  have  been  without  deep  and  abiding  influence. 
It  may  be  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  that  he  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  Greek  in  Tarsus,  the  language  through  which  he  was  to  enrich 
the  religious  literature  of  the  world,  and  also  that  the  impressions 
derived  from  the  hfe  of  the  city  were  of  an  informing  and  mentally 
stimulating  character.  They  helped  to  make  him,  in  the  best  sense 
of  the  word,  a  man  of  the  world. 

But  Paul  was  destined  to  become  a  rabbi,  and  therefore  was 
sent  at  an  early  age  to  study  at  Jerusalem.  How  old  he  was  at  this 
time  we  can  not  tell  definitely,  yet  the  language  which  he  used  on 
two  occasions  seems  to  imply  that  he  had  not  passed  out  of  boyhood 
(Acts  22:3;  26:4). 

Paul  was  fortunate  in  his  teacher.  GamaHel  I  was  the  most 
illustrious  representative  of  the  school  of  Hillel,  of  whom,  according 
to  some  scholars,  he  was  a  grandson.  He  was  one  of  the  four  teach- 
ers to  whom  the  Mishna  gives  the  most  honorable  title  of  "rabban." 
Tradition  represents  him  as  humble-minded,  one  who  served  those 
who  were  inferior  to  him  in  rank.  In  Acts  Gamahel  appears  as  a 
man  of  courage  and  independence,  not  afraid  to  advocate  an  un- 
popular cause;  a  man  of  cool  dispassionate  temper,  and  perhaps  of 
a  somewhat  liberal  mind,  for  he  appears  to  have  thought  it  possible 
that  God  was  in  the  rehgious  movement  whose  leaders  were  on  trial. 

We  can  form  only  a  general  idea  of  the  substance  and  method  of 
the  education  which  Paul  received  in  the  school  of  Gamaliel.  The 
rabbis  met  their  pupils  in  the  courts  of  the  temple.  The  work  of 
the  school  was  chiefly  memorizing.  The  teacher  repeated  again 
and  again  an  explanation  of  a  Scripture  passage  until  the  scholars 
also  could  repeat  it.  Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  word  "repeat" 
meant  to  teach.  The  ideal  of  the  student  was  to  be  hke  a  well-plas- 
tered cistern,  which  loses  no  drop  of  water  that  is  put  into  it. 

The  content  of  rabbinic  teaching  was,  theoretically,  the  law  of 
Moses,  but  in  reality  it  was  the  traditional  interpretation  of  that  law, 
which  was  regarded  as  of  even  greater  value.  There  was  no  place 
in  the  curriculum  for  the  history  and  hterature  of  any  gentile  people, 
no  place  for  art  or  for  such  knowledge  of  science  as  was  then  extant 
among  the  Egyptians  and  Greeks.  A  Hellenist  like  Paul  may  have 
read  Greek  literature  while  studying  in  Jerusalem,  but  as  a  pupil  of 


56  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

Gamaliel  his  one  subject  of  study  was  the  law  and  its  traditional 
interpretation,  and  the  language  used  was  the  Aramaic. 

How  long  Paul  sat  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  and  whether  he  him- 
self obtained  a  license  to  teach,  are  questions  which  must  remain 
unanswered.  It  is  probable  that  he  returned  to  Tarsus  and  re- 
mained there  some  time  prior  to  his  appearance  in  the  book  of  Acts 
at  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen.  It  is  most  natural  to  think  that  he 
learned  his  trade  of  weaving  goat's  hair  in  his  native  city,  for  this 
was  a  Cilician  industry,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  have 
found  opportunity  in  Jerusalem  to  learn  it.  Moreover,  it  seems 
improbable  that  he  was  in  Jerusalem  during  the  pubhc  ministry  of 
Jesus,  for  had  he  been,  it  is  likely  that  he  would  have  seen  the  prophet 
over  whom  the  religious  authorities  were  so  much  excited.  If, 
however,  he  had  seen  Jesus,  it  is  probable  that  we  should  have  some 
sort  of  allusion  to  the  fact  in  his  writings;  but  there  is  none,  for  2 
Cor,  5:16  refers  only  to  a  false  judgment  of  Jesus  which  Paul  had 
formerly  entertained. 

Though  it  is  not  easy  to  believe  that  Paul  was  in  Jerusalem 
during  the  public  ministry  of  Jesus,  it  seems  probable  that  he  had 
been  there  some  time  before  the  death  of  Stephen.  His  language  in 
Acts  26:10  implies  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  supreme  court,  and 
this  fact  in  turn  seems  to  imply  that  he  had  already  distinguished 
himself  in  Jerusalem.  It  is  possible  that  he  had  come  back  to  the 
city  as  the  rabbi  of  the  Cilician  synagogue,  and  in  that  capacity  had 
come  into  prominence. 

§  43.  His  Career  as  a  Persecutor. — There  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  Paul  persecuted  the  followers  of  Jesus  with  a  good  conscience 
(Acts  26:9),  and  thought  that  he  was  thereby  offering  acceptable 
service  unto  God  (cf.  John  16:2).  He  threw  himself  wholly  into 
the  w^ork  because  he  was  wholly  bent  on  pleasing  the  Lord.  His 
motive  was  purely  religious. 

It  is  plain  that  Paul  had  the  support  of  the  Sanhedrin  as  a 
whole  (Acts  9:2;  22:5;  26:10),  though  his  course  can  hardly  have 
had  the  approval  of  Gamaliel.  On  what  grounds  the  Roman  pro- 
curator was  moved  to  sanction  the  death  of  disciples  of  Jesus  we 
are  not  told.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  did  it  for  the  same  reason 
that  Agrippa,  at  a  later  day,  seized  Peter  with  the  intention  of  put- 


LIFE    OF   PAUL   BEFORE    HIS    CONVERSION  57 

ting  him  to  death,  that  is,  because  it  was  a  pohcy  that  pleased  the 
leading  Jews. 

The  success  of  Paul  in  Jerusalem  was  obviously  very  marked. 
Luke  speaks  of  the  persecution  as  "great"  and  as  a  "wasting  of  the 
church"  (Acts  8:i,  3),  in  consequence  of  which  many  believers  fled; 
and  Paul's  own  language  is  equally  strong.  He  declares  that  he 
persecuted  the  church  beyond  measure  and  made  havoc  of  it  (Gal. 
1:13).  The  report  of  his  doings  had  reached  Damascus  before 
him,  and  had  caused  believers  to  tremble  (Acts  9:13-14).  But 
though  the  persecution  checked  the  Christian  movement  in  Jeru- 
salem for  a  time,  it  seems  not  long  to  have  survived  the  departure  of 
Paul.  When  he  returned,  after  about  three  years,  he  found  the 
apostles  in  Jerusalem,  and  at  that  time,  according  to  Luke,  Peter 
was  making  tours  through  Judea  undisturbed  (Acts  9:32). 

§44.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Where  was 
Paul  born  ?  (2)  What  imphes  that  he  was  of  pure  Jewish  descent  ? 
(3)  To  what  sect  did  his  family  belong?  (4)  What  instruction  is 
it  likely  that  he  had  in  his  home  ?  (5)  What  was  his  political  status  ? 
(6)  What  were  the  chief  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship  ?  (7)  In 
what  signal  instances  did  his  Roman  citizenship  benefit  him  ? 

(8)  Describe  the  location  of  Tarsus  and  its  political  privileges. 
(9)  How  did  Tarsus  rank  in  education  ?  (10)  What  did  the  passing 
of  childhood  and  early  youth  in  Tarsus  probably  mean  to  Paul  ?  (11) 
At  what  age  did  Paul  go  to  Jerusalem?  (12)  Who  was  his  teacher 
there  ?  (13)  What  was  the  method  of  rabbinic  teaching  ?  (14)  With 
what  subjects  did  it  deal?  (15)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking 
that  Paul  returned  to  Tarsus  for  a  time  after  his  studies  in  Jerusalem  ? 
(16)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  he  had  been  in  Jeru- 
salem a  considerable  time  before  the  death  of  Stephen?  (17)  What 
was  the  character  of  Paul's  religious  and  moral  hfe  in  these  days  be- 
fore his  conversion  to  Christianity?  See  especially  Gal.  1:14;  Phil. 
3:5,6. 

(18)  In  what  spirit  did  Paul  enter  into  the  persecution  of  behevers  ? 
(19)  On  what  ground  did  the  Roman  procurator  probably  allow  the 
persecution  to  go  on?  (20)  What  was  the  success  of  the  persecu- 
tion in  Jerusalem?     (21)  When  does  it  appear  to  have  died  out? 


5?  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

§  45.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  On  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  paragraphs  and  of  your  own 
study  of  the  New  Testament  write  a  chapter  on  the  hfe  of  Paul  before 
his  conversion.  Note  especially  those  points  which  helped  to  fit 
him  for  his  career  as  a  Christian  missionary,  and  include  an  estimate 
of  his  moral  character  while  he  was  still  a  Pharisee. 

2.  On  the  political  status  of  Jews  in  the  Dispersion  read: 
Josephus,  Antiquities,  12.3.1;    14.7.2;   16.6. i;   14. 10. 13-19;  and  Schurer^ 

The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  pp.  270-81. 

3.  On  the  question  of  Paul's  marriage  see: 
Gilbert,  Student's  Life  of  Paul,  pp.  20,  21. 

4.  On  rabbinic  interpretation  see : 

Cone,  Paul  the  Man,  the  Missionary ,  and  the  Teacher,  pp.  7-21. 


THE   EMPEROR   TIBERIUS 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  OF  PAUL 
SYNOPSIS 

§46.    The  conversion  of  Paul.         Actsgii-g;  22:6-16;  26:12-18;  Gal.  1:13-17; 

I  Cor.  9:1;  15:8;  2  Cor.  4:6 
§47.    The  three  years  in  Damascus  and  Arabia.         Acts  9:19  6-22;  Gal.  1:16-17. 
§  48.    The  return  to  Jerusalem  and  work  in  Syria  and  Cilicia.         Acts  9:23-30; 

Gal.  1 :  18-24 

§  46.  The  Conversion  of  PauL — The  New  Testament  says  more 
about  the  conversion  of  Paul  than  is  said  anywhere  in  Scripture 
about  the  conversion  of  any  other  man.  And  of  all  the  events 
of  the  apostolic  age  probably  none  was  of  greater  importance  for  its 
influence  on  the  subsequent  history  of  Christianity  than  Paul's 
abandonment  of  his  Pharisaism  to  become  a  Christian.  This  sig- 
nificant event  took  place  near  Damascus,  breaking  into  and  ending 
Saul's  career  as  a  persecutor  of  Christians.  It  unquestionably  in- 
volved for  him  a  profound  modification  of  his  religious  convictions, 
and  led  to  a  total  change  of  his  career.  From  having  been  a  vigorous 
opponent  of  the  new  religion,  he  became  at  once  a  devout  disciple 
of  Jesus,  and  in  the  years  that  followed  probably  the  most  potent 
factor  of  that  age  in  the  promotion  of  Christianity  and  in  the  deter- 
mining of  its  character.  The  importance  of  the  event  is  reflected  in 
the  various  accounts  of  it  which  the  New  Testament  gives.  There 
are  three  accounts  in  Acts,  two  of  which  purport  to  be  by  Paul  him- 
self, and  in  the  epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  Corinthians  we  have  at 
least  three  references  to  it.  There  is  also  an  indirect  but  important 
reference  to  it  in  Phihppians. 

i)  The  event  according  to  the  epistles. — According  to  Galatians,  Paul's 
conversion  occurred  in  or  near  Damascus,  and  had  been  immediately  preceded 
by  a  career  of  persecution  (1:17;  13-15).  He  here  attributes  the  change  to  a 
revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  in  him  (1:15,  16).  The  change  is  represented  as 
sudden.  The  work  of  persecution  was  instantly  abandoned  and  Paul  at  once 
departed  into  Arabia  (Gal.  1:16,  17).  This  narrative  contains  no  suggestion 
of  an  external  phenomenon  in  connection  with  Paul's  conversion.  The  vital 
fact  in  it  is  a  spiritual  apprehension  of  Christ. 

59 


6o  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

The  word  of  Paul  in  i  Cor.  g:  i,  "Have  I  not  seen  Jesus  our  Lord"  is  to  be 
referred  to  the  same  event  of  which  Gal.  i:i6  speaks.  Paul  here  derives  his 
apostleship  from  the  fact  that  he  has  seen  Jesus  the  I>ord;  but  obviously  a  behold- 
ing of  Jesus  vv^ith  the  eyes  of  flesh  w^ould  have  established  no  claim  to  apostle- 
ship. The  passage,  therefore,  points  to  that  spiritual  vision  mentioned  in  Gala- 
tians  (1:15),  which,  because  it  carried  conviction  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
sustained  a  vital  relation  to  Paul's  apostleship. 

The  vision  of  Jesus  mentioned  in  i  Cor.  15:8  is  to  be  identified  with  that  of 
I  Cor.  9:1  and  Gal.  1:16.  For  the  appearance  of  which  Paul  here  speaks  was 
to  him  the  signal  evidence  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus;  but  after  the  event  of 
Gal.  1 :  16  he  certainly  never  needed  proof  of  the  resurrection.  It  is  to  be  noticed 
that  the  Greek  word  in  i  Cor.  15:8,  which  is  rendered  in  English  by  "appeared," 
is  commonly  used  of  spiritual  appearances,  and  that  in  Paul's  address  before 
Agrippa  he  speaks  of  what  he  saw  on  the  way  to  Damascus  as  a  heavenly  "vision" 
(diTTaffia)^  a  word  from  the  same  stem  as  that  used  in  i  Cor.  15:8. 

If  the  shining  into  the  heart,  mentioned  in  2  Cor.  4:6,  is  an  autobiographical 
allusion,  it  plainly  agrees  with  the  conception  of  Gal.  i :  16,  but  adds  also  that 
in  the  revelation  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  Paul  was  assured  that  he  obtained 
also  a  revelation  of  the  glory  of  the  divine  character. 

But  from  the  fact  that  Galatians  mentions  nothing  external  in  connection 
with  Paul's  conversion  it  can  not  be  at  once  inferred  that  there  was  nothing  of 
the  sort.  We  have  no  right  to  assume  that  the  passage  in  Galatians  is  a  complete 
account  of  the  conversion  of  Paul.  Indeed,  the  passage  i  Cor.  15:5-8,  by  asso- 
ciating the  appearance  of  Jesus  to  Paul  with  other  appearances  to  large  groups 
of  people  at  once,  seems  to  imply  that  he  ascribed  external  reality  to  that  which 
caused  his  own  experience  and  theirs.  The  Galatian  passage,  however,  must 
be  taken  as  specializing  what  the  apostle  himself  regarded  as  fundamental  in  his 
experience  near  Damascus. 

2)  The  event  according  to  Acts.— Two  of  the  three  accounts  of  Paul's  con- 
version in  Acts  are  ascribed  to  him,  the  other  is  by  the  author.  No  two  are 
identical,  and  the  differences  between  those  attributed  to  the  apostle  are  as  notable 
as  the  differences  between  these  and  that  of  Luke.  The  two  accounts  attributed 
to  Paul  have  some  graphic  details  that  lend  support  to  the  view  that  they  did, 
indeed,  originate  with  him.  Thus  we  are  told  that  it  was  about  noon  when  the 
event  occurred;  that  the  light  was  great  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun;  that 
it  shone  round  about  them  all;  that  the  one  who  spoke  to  Paul  said:  "I  am 
]esns  oi  AT azareth;"  that  aW  fell  to  the  earth;  and  that  Jesus  said  to  Paul:  "It 
is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  goad." 

Again,  the  differences  in  the  accounts  which  are  ascribed  to  Paul  are  as 
easily  explained  on  the  theory  that  they  originated  with  Paul  as  they  are  if  the 
accounts  are  regarded  as  Luke's  own  production.  We  should  not  expect  that 
Paul,  speaking  twenty-five  years  after  his  conversion,  would  on  different  occa- 
sions describe  the  event  in  the  same  terms  and  mention  the  same  incidents. 


62  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  accounts  had  been  original  with  Luke,  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  would  have  represented  the  commission  to  go  to  the  gentiles  as  coming 
to  Paul  in  one  case  from  Jesus  h\mse\{  outside  the  city  (Acts  26: 16-18),  and  in  the 
other  as  coming  from  Ananias  in  the  city  (Acts  22:14,  15). 

Coming  now  to  the  points  of  agreement,  two  are  worthy  of  especial  note: 
(a)  The  three  narratives  agree  that  there  was  some  sort  of  external  phenomenon 
connected  with  Paul's  conversion.  He  and  his  companions  beheld  a  light, 
and  he,  at  least,  heard  a  sound,  {b)  The  narratives  agree  that  Paul  met  Jesus 
near  Damascus,  and  since  they  appear  to  preclude  a  physical  seeing  of  him, 
we  must  suppose  that  they  desire  to  represent  Paul  as  having  had  a  spiritual 
vision.  Jesus  was  thought  of  as  present,  yet  not  in  a  form  that  was  visible  to 
mortal  eyes.  He  was  present  in  a  spiritual  body,  and  in  this  Paul,  whose  bodily 
eyes  were  blinded,  beheld  him  spiritually.  In  this  point  the  narrative  in  Acts 
agrees  with  the  representation  of  Paul  in  the  epistles,  and  this  point  is  funda 
mental.  The  fact  that  Paul  does  not  mention  any  external  phenomenon  in  his 
letters  may  simply  show  that  he  regarded  it  as  of  incidental  importance.  His 
silence  is  not  a  proof  that  the  narrative  in  Acts  is  unhistorical. 

3.  Preparation  for  the  event  near  Damascus. — There  was  doubt- 
less something  in  Paul's  inner  hfe  that  led  up  to  the  event  by  Damas- 
cus. He  says,  indeed,  that  he  received  his  apostleship  directly  through 
Jesus  Christ  (Gal.  1:1),  and  also  that  the  hour  of  his  change  came 
when  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  God  to  reveal  his  Son  in  him  (Gal. 
1:9,  16);  but  these  statements  do  not  imply  that  the  transformation 
of  his  belief  regarding  Jesus  came  without  preparation.  To  say 
that  he  was  not  the  convert  of  any  man,  or  that  he  had  not  received 
his  apostleship  from  men,  is  not  to  say  that  his  conversion  had  no 
roots  in  his  previous  life. 

Paul's  language  in  Galatians  precludes  the  possibihty  that  he 
had  received  Christian  instruction,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  zeal- 
ously persecuting  the  church  when  he  went  to  Damascus  seems  to 
indicate  that  he  was  not  conscious  of  any  leaning  toward  Christianity. 
It  is  of  course  possible  that  his  heart  had  been  touched  by  the  martyr 
courage  of  Christians,  but  in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  whatever, 
it  is  quite  idle  to  speculate.'  The  most  valuable  hint  on  the 
antecedents  of  the  conversion  of  Paul  is  furnished  by  the  auto- 
biographical passage  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans.  The 
apostle  is  here  interpreting  past  experiences  in  the  hght  of  present 

I  The  word  in  Acts  26:14:  "It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  goad,"  may 
mean  simply  that  Paul's  course  was  vain  and  brought  injury  only  to  himself.  It 
probably  does  not  imply  that  he  doubted  the  lightness  of  his  course. 


64  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

knowledge,  and  we  can  not  hold  that  the  struggle  of  the  spirit  which 
he  describes  had  been  felt  by  him  at  the  time  so  keenly  as  he  now 
intimates  that  it  had  been.  But  the  passage  certainly  suggests  that  he 
must  have  felt,  at  times  at  least,  that  his  righteousness,  though  per- 
fect according  to  the  standards  of  Judaism,  was  unsatisfactory,  if 
not  an  utter  failure.  Observance  of  the  law  as  it  had  been  interpreted 
by  the  scribes,  had  not  been  able  to  do  away  with  a  sense  of  bondage 
to  sin.  Here,  then,  we  may  see  a  real  preparation  for  the  experi- 
ence by  Damascus.  The  doubt  of  which  he  was  sometimes  conscious 
was  not  a  doubt  in  regard  to  the  claim  of  Jesus,  not  a  doubt  which 
had  been  created  by  the  Christian  movement  in  Jerusalem,  but  a 
doubt  whether  the  righteousness  of  works  was  pleasing  to  God.  The 
existence  of  such  a  doubt  is  an  evidence  of  the  depth  and  sincerity 
of  Paul's  rehgious  nature,  and  it  furnishes  a  basis  for  an  explana- 
tion of  his  conversion. 

4.  The  nature  of  the  conversion  as  a  religious  experience. — But 
of  more  importance  than  the  preparation  for  the  event  is  the  experi- 
ence itself.  If  we  then  attempt  to  define  from  all  the  evidence  what 
Paul's  conversion  meant  for  him  as  a  religious  experience,  we  find 
that  it  involved  at  least  three  things :  (a)  The  new,  but  firm,  convic- 
tion that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the  dead  (i  Cor.  15:8);  {h)  the  no  less 
revolutionary  conviction  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ  (Gal.  1:16);  and 
(c)  the  recognition,  gained  at  once  or  as  the  early  sequel  of  the  initial 
experience,  that  the  way  of  righteousness  by  deeds  of  law,  which 
he  had  been  pursuing,  was  a  failure  (Gal.  2:19;  Rom.  7:7-25;  8:3), 
and  that  instead,  fellowship  with  God  and  acceptance  by  him  were  to 
be  obtained  through  believing  in  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God  (Phil.  3:7-9), 
in  whose  face  there  shines  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  (2  Cor.  4:6). 

5.  The  commission. — Inseparable  from  Paul's  conversion,  both 
according  to  Acts  and  his  own  letters,  was  the  conviction  that  he 
had  a  mission  from  Jesus  to  the  gentiles.  He  says  that  this  was 
God's  purpose  in  reveahng  Christ  to  him  (Gal.  1:16),  and  he  repeat- 
edly connects  the  mission  to  the  gentiles  with  his  first  vision  of  Jesus 
(i  Cor.  9:1;  15:8,  9).  This  conviction  of  a  mission  to  the  gentiles 
was  natural.  Paul  had  lived  in  the  gentile  world,  and  his  experience 
had  given  him  a  much  broader  horizon  than  the  original  apostles 


EARLY   CHRISTIAN   LIFE   OF   PAUL 


65 


had.  He  knew  the  gentile  world,  its  elements  of  power  as  well  as  its 
deep  need,  and  he  knew  that  the  gospel  had  been  confined  thus  far 
to  the  Jews.  A  deeper  ground  of  Paul's  conviction  that  he  was  divinely 


"THE    STREET   THAT   IS    CALLED    STRAIGHT,"   DAMASCUS 

called  to  the  gentiles  may  well  have  been  the  pure  graciousness  of 
God  in  his  own  salvation.  The  vision  of  Jesus  had  been  granted  to 
him  while  he  was  doing  his  utmost  to  destroy  the  disciples  of  Jesus. 
Thus,  with  the  acceptance  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  there  was  asso- 


66  CHRISTIANITY    IX   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

ciated  an  ineradicable  impression  of  the  divine  goodness  that  ofifers 
salvation  freely  to  the  "chief"  of  sinners.  This  salvation,  therefore, 
must  be  for  all  men,  gentiles  no  less  than  Jews.  Paul's  own  deep 
and  sad  experience  that  Jewish  legalism  is  not  able  to  save  a  man 
would  naturally  have  intensified  his  desire  to  go  to  his  gentile 
fellow-men  with  his  new  message  of  salvation  through  Jesus. 

§47.  The  Three  Years  in  Damascus  and  Arabia. — The  letters 
of  Paul  say  nothing  of  what  happened  in  the  days  immediately  suc- 
ceeding his  conversion — his  baptism  by  Ananias,  the  restoration  of 
his  sight,  and  his  preaching  in  the  synagogue.  A  passage  in  second 
Corinthians  implies  that  he  preached  the  gospel  in  Damascus  at 
some  time,  but  this  preaching,  according  to  Gal.  i :  7,  seems  to  have 
followed  the  sojourn  in  Arabia  (2  Cor.  11:32). 

It  is  probable  that  Paul  was  taken  to  the  house  in  Damascus 
whither  he  had  expected  to  go  when  he  left  Jerusalem.  According 
to  Luke,  this  was  the  house  of  a  certain  Judas  in  Straight  Street 
(Acts  9:11).  In  a  short  time  the  Jews  of  Damascus  must  have  heard 
something  of  the  strange  events  connected  with  Paul's  approach  to 
their  city,  at  least  they  must  have  heard  that  he  had  abandoned  his 
crusade  against  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Luke  tells  us  that  a  certain 
Jewish  Christian,  by  the  name  of  Ananias,  heard  of  Paul's  arrival 
and  of  his  state,  and  that  he  came  to  him  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  to  com- 
fort him  (Acts  9:10-17;  22:12-16).  There  is  nothing  improbable 
in  the  statement  that  he  baptized  Paul,  for  Paul  would  surely  have 
desired  to  receive  this  rite  from  someone ;  and  why  not  from  Ananias 
(Acts  9:18;  22:16)?  It  is  easily  credible  also  that  Ananias  uttered 
some  prophetic  words  regarding  Paul's  future.  The  sudden  inter- 
ruption of  his  career  of  persecution  and  his  acceptance  of  the 
gospel  would  have  suggested  that  he  might  have  a  remarkable  work 
to  do. 

That  Paul  was  bhnded  by  the  glory  of  the  hght  which  shone 
upon  him  by  Damascus,  and  that  his  sight  was  restored  by  Ananias, 
we  learn  from  Acts  alone.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Luke  thought 
of  the  restoration  of  physical  sight.  A  figurative  interpretation  of  the 
healing,  to  the  effect  that  Paul  came  out  into  the  light  of  faith  through 
Ananias,  is  excluded  by  the  statements  of  Paul  in  the  letter  to  the 
Galatians. 


EARLY    CHRISTIAN    LIFE    OF    PAUL  67 

Immediately  after  his  conversion  Paul  went  away  into  Arabia, 
by  which  term  is  probably  meant  the  neighboring  kingdom  of  Aretas 
IV  (cf.  Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  i.  Vol.  II,  pp.356  ff.). 
The  purpose  of  this  retirement  is  nowhere  intimated,  but  we  may 
conjecture  that  it  was  for  meditation.  The  changed  attitude  toward 
Jesus  must  have  raised  many  and  serious  questions,  and  it  would 
have  been  natural  if  Paul  desired  to  get  away  into  solitude  to  think 
out  his  answers  to  them.  The  approximate  length  of  this  Arabian 
sojourn  can  be  inferred  from  a  passage  in  Galatians  (1:18).  Paul 
says  here  that  it  was  three  years  from  his  conversion  to  his  return  to 
Jerusalem,  and  according  to  Acts  his  stay  in  Damascus  was  com- 
paratively short  (Acts  9:19,  23).  Hence  he  appears  to  have  spent 
the  greater  part  of  the  three  years  in  Arabia. 

Following  the  suggestion  of  Paul  in  Galatians  we  think  of  his 
preaching  in  Damascus  as  having  been  subsequent  to  the  Arabian 
sojourn.  This  preaching  continued  long  enough  to  arouse  a  bitter 
opposition  to  the  apostle,  with  which  the  governor  of  the  city  sym- 
pathized (2  Cor.  II  :32,  t,2))'i  lo^^g  enough  also  to  win  certain  disciples 
by  whose  help  Paul's  life  was  saved  (Acts  9:25). 

§48.  The  Return  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  Work  in  Syria  and 
Cilicia. — ^When  Paul  fled  from  Damascus  he  went  back  to  Jerusalem, 
chiefly,  it  would  appear,  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  Peter.  He  had  doubtless  already  known  of  him  as  a  promi- 
nent leader  of  the  hated  sect  which  he  was  persecuting  as  he  set  out 
for  Damascus  three  years  before,  but  now  he  would  become  ac- 
quainted with  him  as  a  fellow-disciple  of  the  Christ.  In  the  accom- 
phshment  of  this  purpose  he  spent  fifteen  days  with  Peter.  We  may 
believe  that  in  these  days  and  from  the  Hps  of  Peter  he  heard  in  full 
the  story  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  and  stored  his  mind  with  a  large 
number  of  the  Master's  words.  Thus  through  the  experience  with 
Peter  he  must  have  gained  a  picture  of  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus  which 
he  needed  to  associate  with  his  vision  of  the  exalted  Christ. 

But  it  is  significant  that  Paul  did  not  spend  all  his  time  while 
in  Jerusalem  as  a  hearer  of  that  which  Peter  could  tell  him.  As  in 
Damascus  after  his  return  from  Arabia,  so  here,  he  had  a  message 
to  utter,  and  he  seems  to  have  given  it  with  his  characteristic  vigor, 
for  the  Hellenists  were  soon  ready  to  kill  him.     It  was  not  this  fact, 


68  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

however,  that  led  to  his  departure  from  Jerusalem.  Indeed,  the  fact 
of  opposition  might  very  probably  have  made  Paul  feel  that  the  Lord 
had  a  work  for  him  just  then  in  Jerusalem  (see  i  Cor.  16:9).  But 
"the  brethren"  who  knew  of  the  hostihty  toward  him  brought  him 
down  to  Caesarea  to  take  ship  for  Tarsus,  after  he  had  become  con- 
vinced that  this  was  the  Lord's  will. 

If  he  must  leave  Jerusalem,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  turn 
his  steps  toward  his  home  in  Tarsus;  and  since  he  was  already  filled 
with  the  thought  that  his  life  was  to  be  devoted  to  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  to  the  gentiles,  we  may  suppose  that  as  he  set  out  for  his 
native  province  it  was  with  the  expectation  of  entering  immediately 
upon  missionary  work.  How  long  he  spent  in  Tarsus  we  do  not 
know.  The  entire  period  between  his  departure  from  Jerusalem 
and  his  going  to  Antioch  as  co-laborer  with  Barnabas  (Acts  11:25,  26) 
may  be  approximately  estimated  at  ten  years.  For  the  fourteen 
years  of  Gal.  2 :  i  cover  this  period  together  with  the  first  missionary 
journey  from  Antioch,  which  we  may  estimate  at  three  years,  and 
also  the  year  spent  in  Antioch  (Acts  11:26). 

In  his  letter  to  the  Galatians  Paul  does  not  specify  Tarsus,  but 
writes  that  when  he  left  Jerusalem  it  was  to  go  into  the  regions  of 
Syria  and  Cihcia  (Gal.  i  :2i).  If  he  did  missionary  work  in  Tarsus, 
as  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  he  did,  he  labored  also  elsewhere 
in  the  province  and  in  the  adjoining  Syria.  For  immediately  after  his 
statement  that  he  went  into  the  regions  of  Syria  and  CiHcia  he  tells 
the  Galatians  that  the  churches  of  Judea  heard  that  he  was  success- 
fully preaching  the  faith  of  which  he  had  once  made  havoc.  The 
necessary  inference  from  these  words  is  that  what  they  heard  in  Judea 
concerned  his  work  in  Syria  and  CiHcia.  And  to  the  correctness  of 
this  conclusion  Luke  bears  indirect  witness,  for  he  says  that  Paul, 
at  the  beginning  of  his  second  tour  from  Antioch,  went  through  Syria 
and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches  (Acts  14:41).  Now  the  fact 
that  Paul  \dsited  and  confirmed  certain  churches  in  these  regions 
leads  us  to  believe  that  he  founded  them,  for  it  was  his  principle  not 
to  build  on  another  man's  foundation.  But  if  he  estabHshed  these 
churches,  it  must  have  been  done  during  the  period  immediately 
after  his  first  visit  in  Jerusalem. 


EARLY    CHRISTIAN    LIFE    OF    PAUL  69 

Acts  and  Galatians  are  not  wholly  in  agreement  in  regard  to  the  events  of 
this  paragraph,  but  the  differences  are  mainly  such  as  might  naturally  flow  from 
the  different  aims  of  the  two  writers.  Paul  was  showing  his  independence  of 
those  who  were  apostles  before  him.  This- independence  did  not  imply  that  he 
isolated  himself  from  all  believers  in  Jerusalem.  On  the  contrary',  it  was  con- 
sistent with  free  intercourse  with  his  Christian  brethren.  The  aim  of  Luke  was 
to  give  a  general  sketch  of  Paul's  career,  not  to  show  the  independence  of  his 
apostleship,  and  having  this  aim  he  might  naturally  dwell  on  the  more  public 
aspect  of  Paul's  visit  to  Jerusalem.  The  only  statement  of  Acts  which  can  not 
be  explained  in  harmony  with  Galatians  is  that  Paul  preached  throughout  all 
the  country  of  Judea  (26:20).  In  general,  however,  Luke's  narrative  affords 
a  valuable  supplement  to  Paul's  brief  account  of  his  first  visit  in  Jerusalem  after 
his  conversion. 

§49.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study.— (i)  What  material 
have  we  in  regard  to  the  conversion  of  Paul?  (2)  What  are  the 
main  facts  of  the  case  according  to  Galatians  ?  (3)  Why  is  i  Cor.  9 :  i 
to  be  referred  to  the  apostle's  conversion?  (4)  Why  is  i  Cor.  15:8 
to  be  referred  to  the  same  event  ?  (5)  Can  we  assume  that  the 
Galatian  passage  is  a  complete  account  of  Paul's  conversion  ? 
(6)  What  details  in  the  narrative  of  Paul's  conversion  in  Acts  22 
and  26  favor  the  view  that  the  material  came  from  him  ?  (7)  In 
what  main  points  do  the  three  narratives  of  Acts  agree  ?  (8)  Was 
Paul  conscious  of  any  leaning  toward  Christianity  when  he  went 
to  Damascus  ?  (9)  What  light  does  Rom.  7  throw  on  the  conversion 
of  Paul  ? 

(10)  Why  was  it  natural  for  Paul  to  associate  a  call  to  work  among 
the  gentiles  with  his  vision  of  Jesus?  (11)  Describe  the  relation  of 
Ananias  of  Damascus  to  Paul.  (12)  How  did  Luke  regard  the  res- 
toration of  Paul's  sight?  (13)  What  objection  to  the  figurative  in- 
terpretation of  the  language  ?  (14)  Where  did  Paul  go  immediately 
after  his  conversion?  (15)  What  was  the  probable  aim  of  this  re- 
tirement ?  (16)  What  was  the  approximate  length  of  the  Arabian 
sojourn  ?  (17)  When  did  Paul  preach  in  Damascus,  and  how  long? 
(18)  Where  did  Paul  go  when  he  fled  from  Damascus,  and  for  what 
purpose  ?  (19)  Describe  his  visit  to  Jerusalem.  (20)  Where  did 
he  go  from  Jerusalem?  (21)  How  long  did  he  labor  in  Syria  and 
Cilicia  ? 


70 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


§  50.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  early  Christian  life  of  Paul.  Put  the 
accounts  of  his  conversion  in  parallel  columns,  and  by  the  side  of 
these  all  that  bears  upon  the  event  which  you  find  in  Paul's  letters. 
Describe  his  conversion,  and  his  earhest  missionary  work  in  these 
places — Damascus,  Jerusalem,  Syria  and  Cilicia. 

2.  On  the  time  of  Paul's  vision  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  22,  17-21) 
see: 

Ramsay,  Si.  Paul,  the  Traveller  and  the.  Roman  Citizen,  pp.  61-64. 

3.  On  the  roads  to  Damascus  and  on  the  history  of  the  city  read: 
Conybeare  and  Howson,  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  i,  84  ff. 

4.  For  an  explanation  of  the  mode  of  Paul's  conversion  see: 
Bacon,  The  Story  of  St.  Paul,  pp.  51-67. 


PAUL 

From  a  Mosaic  at  Ravenna) 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PETER  IN  A  GENTILE  HOME 
SYNOPSIS 

§51.  How  Peter  came  to  Caesarea.                                     Acts  9:32-42;  10:9-240 

§52.  Peter's  sermon  in  the  house  of  Cornelius  and  its  results.          Acts  10:246-48 

§53.  Peter's  act  recognized  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem.                     Acts  11:1-18 

§  54.  The  relation  of  the  Caesarean  incident  to  the  gentile  mission  of  Paul. 

§  51.  How  Peter  Came  to  Caesarea. — The  visit  of  Peter  to  Lydda 
and  Joppa  is  not  introduced  by  Luke  for  its  own  sake,  though  he 
regarded  the  two  signs  wrought  in  those  places  as  noteworthy;  but 
it  is  introduced  to  show  by  what  steps  the  apostle  came  to  the  most 
extraordinary  event  of  his  missionary  experience.  It  came  to  pass 
that,  as  he  went  throughout  all  parts,  he  visited  Lydda,  and  as  that 
town  was  nigh  unto  Joppa  he  was  summoned  thither  in  an  emergency 
which  had  befallen  some  disciples;  and  the  sojourn  in  Joppa,  in  its 
turn,  became  in  various  ways  a  stepping-stone  to  the  visit  in  Caesarea 
and  the  occurrence  in  the  house  of  Cornelius.  Thus  the  narrative 
of  the  Caesarean  visit  began  naturally  at  Lydda. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Peter  was  not  out  on  an  evangelistic  tour, 
strictly  speaking,  but  rather  on  a  tour  of  pastoral  visitation.  It  was 
the  "saints"  at  Lydda  whom  he  visited,  and  it  was  to  comfort  certain 
"disciples"  that  he  went  on  to  Joppa.  These  two  towns,  moreover, 
were  almost  entirely  Jewish,  and  thus,  until  the  trance  in  Joppa, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  narrative  to  suggest  that  Peter  was  thinking 
of  the  relation  of  the  gospel  to  the  gentiles. 

Tvv'O  circumstances  of  Peter's  stay  in  Joppa,  which  perhaps 
are  not  to  be  separated  from  each  other,  forecast  the  visit  to  Corne- 
lius in  Caesarea.  Peter  lodged  with  a  Jew,  presumably  a  disciple, 
who  was  by  his  trade  a  tanner,  and  therefore,  according  to  rabbinical 
ideas,  was  levitically  unclean.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  Peter  that  he 
ignored  this  rabbinical  teaching,  and  accepted  the  hospitality  of 
Simon.  It  is  possible  that  he  took  this  step  without  any  inner  ques- 
tioning, acting  impulsively  according  to  his  nature;     but  it  is  also 

71 


72  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

natural  lo  think  that  during  the  "many  days"  which  he  spent  with 
Simon  in  Joppa  he  was  constrained  sooner  or  later,  perhaps  by  what 
some  of  his  friends  said  of  his  course,  to  think  seriously  of  his  position 
and  to  defend  it.  In  this  case  we  should  have  an  explanation  of  the 
particular  turn  taken  by  his  dream,  which  was  the  second  of  the  two 
circumstances  mentioned  above.  Peter  was  hungry  when  he  fell  into 
a  trance,  and  accordingly  in  his  vision  he  beheld  abundance  of  food, 
but  on  his  appropriation  of  this  food  the  question  which  had  occu- 
pied his  waking  thoughts  had  its  influence.  For  the  beasts,  birds, 
and  creeping  things  which  he  saw  in  the  sheet  appeared  to  him  un- 
clean, yet  he  was  summoned  to  kill  and  eat.  Against  this  summons 
his  Jewish  training,  which  had  penetrated,  as  it  were,  the  subconscious 
sphere  of  his  life,  raised  its  protest.  Then  he  heard  a  voice  which 
told  him  that  God  had  "cleansed"  these  hving  creatures  in  the  sheet: 
they  were  not,  therefore,  "common  and  unclean,"  as  he  had  supposed. 
He  could  kill  and  eat  with  impunity.  We  may  see  the  natural  back* 
ground  of  this  part  of  the  dream-message  in  a  questioning  of  Peter's 
mind  whether  Simon  was  "unclean"  because  of  his  trade,  or  "clean" 
because  he  had  been  accepted  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus. 

When  the  trance  passed,  Peter  was  perplexed  as  to  its  meaning; 
but  the  appearance  just  then  of  the  gentile  soldiers  with  their  invita- 
tion from  Cornelius  was  a  providential  hint  as  to  its  correct  interpre- 
tation. In  his  dream  Peter  had  been  summoned  to  kill  and  eat  what 
appeared  to  him  to  be  unclean,  and  a  voice  had  then  told  him  that 
God  had  cleansed  it :  now,  when  he  was  summoned  to  go  and  preach 
to  a  gentile,  one  whom  he  had  been  brought  up  to  regard  as  unclean, 
he  could  not  long  have  failed  to  see  that  the  dream- voice  had  a  mean- 
ing pertinent  to  the  circumstances.  His  interpretation  was  in  line 
with  his  acceptance  of  Simon's  hospitality,  though  the  lesson  of  the 
vision  carried  him  further.  In  Joppa  he  had  lodged  with  a  Chris- 
tian Jew,  who  was  levitically  unclean;  now  he  was  called  to  preach 
even  to  a  gentile.  But  the  first  experience  confirmed  by  the  dream 
made  the  second  step  easy. 

That  Peter  realized  the  gravity  of  the  step  which  he  was  about  to 
take,  and  that  he  foresaw  trouble  springing  out  of  it,  is  suggested  by 
the  fact  that  he  took  at  least  six  Christian  Jews  with  him  to  Caesarea 
from  Joppa   (Acts   11:12). 


74  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

§  52.   Peter's  Sermon  in  the  House  of  Cornelius  and  its  Results. — 

The  Roman  centurion,  Cornelius,  though  a  God-fearing  man  and 
acquainted  with  the  Jewish  religion  (Acts  10:2,  22),  was  obviously 
not  a  proselyte  like  the  Ethiopian  treasurer.  The  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  on  him  and  his  was  a  cause  of  amazement  to  the  companions 
of  Peter,  because  his  household  were  gentiles  (Acts  10:45),  and  it 
was  for  the  same  reason  that  the  event  was  considered  so  significant  by 
the  church  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  11 :  18).  The  acceptance  of  the  gospel 
by  a  pagan  who  was  already  a  proselyte  to  Judaism  occasioned  no 
particular  surprise,  as  the  case  of  Nicolas,  one  of  the  Seven,  teaches 
(Acts  6:5). 

Various  circumstances  suggest  that  the  religion  of  Cornelius  was 
of  a  noble  and  winning  character.  Thus,  e.  g.,  his  household  agreed 
with  him  (vs.  12);  even  his  servants  and  at  least  one  of  his  soldiers 
were  in  religious  sympathy  with  him  (vs.  17).  And  again,  when  it 
was  time  for  Peter  to  come,  Cornelius  had  his  kinsmen  and  near 
friends  assemble  to  hear  him  (Acts  10:24). 

The  vision  of  Cornelius  which  led  to  his  sending  for  Peter  natu- 
rally suggests  that  he  had  not  only  heard  something  about  the  new 
movement  (see  vs.  37),  as  he  may  have  done  when  Philip  returned 
to  Caesarea  (Acts  8:40),  but  also  that  he  was  thinking  about  it  and 
desiring  to  know  more. 

Luke's  brief  abstract  of  Peter's  sermon  in  the  house  of  Cornelius 
bears  witness  in  its  opening  sentence  to  the  recent  liberaHzing  of  the 
apostle's  view  in  regard  to  the  gentile  world.  It  must  have  been  plain 
to  Peter  that  God  had  communicated  with  Cornelius,  though  a  gen- 
tile, and  this  fact,  following  closely  upon  his  strange  dream  in  Joppa, 
led  to  a  general  conclusion  regarding  all  gentiles.  This  conclusion, 
since  it  recognized  that  the  ground  of  acceptance  with  God  did  not 
consist  in  the  observance  of  Jewish  rites  and  laws,  but  rather  in  a 
devout  mind  and  in  practical  righteousness,  was  adapted  to  gain  the 
good  will  of  his  hearers. 

Peter  preached  to  his  gentile  audience  substantially  what  he  had 
preached  to  the  Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  He  dwelt  first  on  the 
life  of  Jesus,  which  showed  that  God  was  with  him,  then  on  his 
death  and  resurrection,  and  finally,  after  claiming  that  he  had  been 
authorized  by  Jesus  to  bear  witness  of  him  as  the  judge  of  men,  he 


PETER    IN   A   GENTILE    HOME  75 

pointed  out  the  way  of  salvation,  which  was  in  accord  with  the  pro- 
phetic word.  This  was  the  way  of  faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  as  the 
one  whom  God  had  anointed  and  ordained  to  be  dehverer  and  judge. 

The  resuh  of  Peter's  sermon  in  the  house  of  Cornelius  was  more 
striking  than  that  which  followed  his  preaching  in  Jerusalem  at 
Pentecost.  Before  he  had  finished  his  address  some  of  his  hearers 
were  moved  to  ecstatic  speech,  a  proof  that  the  Spirit  had  been  poured 
out  upon  them.  What  had  taken  place  in  the  upper  chamber  was 
repeated  here  in  a  pagan  home  (Acts  ii :  15),  excepting  the  supernat- 
ural prelude  to  the  Pentecostal  speaking  with  tongues.  Without 
any  imposition  of  hands  and  prior  to  their  baptism  these  gentiles 
had  received  the  Spirit.  The  evidence  was  so  clear  that  no  one 
could  object  to  their  baptism  and  reception  into  the  company  of 
Christian  disciples. 

§  53.  Peter's  Act  Recognized  in  the  Church  at  Jerusalem. — 
The  news  of  the  conversion  of  gentiles  in  Caesarea  reached  Jerusalem 
ahead  of  Peter,  who  tarried  some  days  with  Cornelius  and  his  friends 
(Acts  10:48).  On  his  return  he  was  called  to  account  by  certain 
Jewish  believers  (not  unbelievers,  cf.  11:18),  but  the  narrative  of 
Luke  does  not  make  clear  why  they  thus  called  him  to  account. 
According  to  11  :i,  what  they  heard  from  Caesarea  was  that  the 
gentiles  had  received  the  word  of  God,  and  in  vs.  18  we  are  told  that, 
after  Peter's  address,  they  glorified  God,  saying :  "Then  to  the  gentiles 
also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto  life."  From  these  verses 
it  would  seem  that  they  had  not  been  favorable  to  the  admission  of 
gentiles  into  the  church,  perhaps  had  not  even  thought  of  such  a 
thing,  as  Peter  himself  evidently  had  not  before  his  experiences  in 
Joppa  and  Caesarea.  With  this  agrees  the  defense  which  Peter 
made,  for  he  simply  told  how  he  had  been  led  to  change  his  view  in 
regard  to  the  admission  of  the  gentiles. 

In  11:3  the  complaint  against  Peter  is  that  he  had  associated  with  the  uncir- 
cumcised.  This  would  have  been  a  transgression  of  the  traditional  law,  which, 
we  know,  the  Jews  observed  with  painful  scrupulosity.  To  this  complaint 
Peter  made  no  reference  in  his  address,  that  is,  no  direct  reference.  He  had, 
indeed,  gone  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  there  is  a  strong  presumption  that  he 
had  eaten  with  them.  He  was  not  the  man  to  stop  half-way.  He  could  not, 
then,  deny  the  truth  of  the  complaint,  but  he  sought  to  quiet  the  scruples  of  those 
who  had  made  it  in  just  the  way  in  which  his  own  scruples  had  been  overcome. 


70  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

And  in  this  he  succeeded.  His  critics,  carried  along  by  the  evidence  of  God's 
presence  with  him  and  God's  approval  of  his  course,  were  constrained  to  over- 
look his  offense  against  the  ceremonial  law. 

§  54.  The  Relation  of  the  Caesarean  Incident  to  the  Gentile  Mis- 
sion of  Paul. — The  preaching  of  Peter  in  the  home  of  the  Roman 
Cornelius  did  not  result,  so  far  as  we  know,  in  the  establishment  of 
a  gentile  Christian  church;  nor  is  there  any  indication  that  Peter 
afterward  labored  among  the  gentiles.  The  conversion  of  Cornelius 
and  his  household  and  friends  remained  the  sole  instance  of  its  kind 
in  the  career  of  one  who  was  known  as  an  apostle  of  the  circum- 
cision (Gal.  2:7,8).  While,  therefore,  Peter  was  the  first  of  the 
twelve  apostles  (as  might  have  been  expected)  to  break  through  the 
wall  which  separated  gentiles  and  Jews — a  fact  that  adds  much  to 
the  glory  of  his  career — we  can  not  bring  him  into  comparison  with 
Paul  as  a  co-founder  of  the  gentile  church.  We  can  not  even  say 
that  he  anticipated  Paul  in  preaching  to  gentiles,  for  apparently 
Paul  was  preaching  to  gentiles  in  Syria  and  Cilicia  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Peter's  visit  to  Caesarea  (Acts  9:30;  Gal.  1:21).  Certainly 
Paul's  impulse  to  go  to  the  gentiles  was  quite  independent  of  Peter's 
mission  to  Cornelius. 

However,  it  is  certain  that  Peter's  preaching  in  Caesarea  was  im- 
portant for  the  gentile  church  of  the  future  by  way  of  its  influence 
on  the  Jewish  church  at  Jerusalem.  When  Paul  came  up  to  the 
mother-church  seeking  the  recognition  of  his  work  among  the  gentiles 
(Gal.  2:1-10;  Acts  15:1-21),  that  is,  their  reception  into  the  Chris- 
tian body  without  subjection  to  the  law  of  Moses,  the  memory  of 
Peter's  experience  in  Cassarea  must  of  necessity  have  been  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  discussion,  as  Luke  declares  in  Acts  15.  It 
may  be  doubted  whether  a  friendly  understanding  would  have  been 
reached  at  that  time  but  for  the  sporadic  work  of  Peter  in  the  home 
of  Cornelius. 

§  55.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  is  Luke's 
purpose  in  the  account  of  Peter's  visit  in  Lydda  and  Joppa  ?  (2) 
What  circumstances  of  Peter's  visit  in  Joppa  prepared  for  his  mission 
to  Cornelius  ?  (3)  How  is  the  particular  form  of  Peter's  dream  to 
be  explained  ?  (4)  How  was  Peter  helped  to  interpret  his  dream  ? 
(5)  How  many  brethren  did  he  take  with  him  from  Joppa,  and  why  ? 


PETER   IN    A   GENTILE    HOME  77 

(6)  Was  Cornelius  a  proselyte  ?  (7)  What  was  the  character  of 
his  rehgion  ?  (8)  What  does  the  vision  of  Cornehus  presuppose  ? 
(9)  How  had  Peter  arrived  at  the  opening  thought  of  his  sermon  in 
the  house  of  Cornehus  ?  (10)  What  was  the  substance  of  his  sermon  ? 
(11)  What  were  the  striking  features  in  the  conversion  of  Cornehus  and 
his  household  ? 

(12)  By  whom  was  Peter  called  to  account  on  his  return  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  why?  (13)  What  law  had  he  violated?  (14)  What 
was  Peter's  defense,  and  what  was  its  effect  ? 

(15)  Why  can  we  not  regard  Peter  as  a  co-founder  with  Paul  of 
the  gentile  church  ?  (16)  Is  it  certain  that  Peter  anticipated  Paul 
in  preaching  to  gentiles?  (17)  How  did  his  preaching  in  the  home 
of  Cornelius  influence  the  work  of  Paul  in  later  years  ?  (18)  Sum 
up  the  whole  significance  of  this  incident  for  the  development  of  early 
Christianity. 

§  56.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  Peter's  visit  to  Cornelius,  showing  how  he 
was  led  to  it  step  by  step,  how  his  mind  was  prepared  for  it,  how 
wondrously  successful  his  visit  was,  and  how  he  defended  his  act  in 
Jerusalem. 

2.  Locate  Lydda,  Joppa,  and  Ca^sarea,  describing  the  roads 
which  connected  them  with  Jerusalem. 

See  Smith's  Historical  Geography  oj  the  Holy  Land. 

3.  On  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  traditional  law  read: 
Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I,  pp.  330-39. 

4.  For  the  view  that  Luke  is  wholly  responsible  for  Acts  11:3  see 
McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  105,  106. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  EARI-Y  DAYS  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  ANTIOCH  AND  CONTEM- 
PORARY   EVENTS    IN    JERUSALEM 

SYNOPSIS 

§  57.    The  beginning  of  the  gospel  in  Antioch.  Acts  11:19-26 

§58.    Relief  sent  from  Antioch  to  the  brethren  in  Judea.         Acts  11 :27-3o;  12:25 
§  59.    The  persecution  of  disciples  in  Jerusalem  by  Agrippa  I.  Acts  12:1-24 

§  57.   The  Beginning  of  the  Gospel  in  Antioch. 

i)  The  city. — The  mother-church  of  the  gentiles  was  founded  in 
Antioch,  the  royal  city  of  the  Syrian  kings  from  the  time  of  Antiochus  IV, 
situated  on  the  Orontes  River,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  about  sixteen  miles  from  the  coast  and  a  httle  more  than 
two  hundred  miles  north  from  Jerusalem.  It  was  rated  by  Josephus 
as  the  third  city  in  the  Empire,  Rome  and  Alexandria  probably  being 
the  two  cities  which  he  put  before  it  {Jewish  War,  3.  2.  4).  Strabo 
reckoned  it  as  the  fourth,  placing  above  it,  not  only  Rome  and  Alex- 
andria, but  also  Seleucia  on  the  Tigris.  It  was  a  free  city,  and  the 
residence  of  the  governor  of  the  province.  What  its  population  was 
in  the  year  44  a.  d.,  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  laboring  there 
we  can  only  conjecture.  According  to  the  book  of  Maccabees  the 
gentiles  of  the  city  raised  an  army  of  125,000  against  Demetrius 
(ti5o  B.  c),  but  this  was  nearly  two  centuries  before  the  intro- 
duction of  the  gospel.  If  it  ranked  next  to  Rome  and  Alexandria  in 
the  time  of  Josephus,  its  population  may  have  numbered  a  million. 
There  was  a  large  Jewish  element  in  Antioch,  who  from  the  ancient 
days  of  Seleucus  I  (faSo  b.  c.)  had  possessed  the  rights  of  citizenship 
and  had  enjoyed  special  immunities.  Their  synagogue  was  second 
only  to  that  of  Alexandria,  and  had  among  its  ornaments  votive  gifts 
of  brass  which  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (ti64  b.  c.)  had  taken  from  the 
temple  in  Jerusalem.  Josephus  tells  us  {Jewish  War,  7.  3.  3)  that 
large  numbers  of  the  Greeks  in  Antioch  were  always  attached  to  the 
synagogue  as  proselytes,  a  fact  important  for  the  beginning  of  Chris- 
tian work  in  the  city. 

78 


8o  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

2)  The  jounding  oj  the  church  in  Antioch. — There  were  two  stages 
in  the  evangelistic  work  that  resuUcd  in  the  estabhshment  of  the 
mother-church  of  the  gentiles.  The  first  preachers  who  reached 
the  city  spoke  the  word  to  the  Jews  only  (Acts  11:19),  being  them- 
selves, it  is  not  unlikely,  Jews  of  Palestine.  A  little  later  there  came 
Hellenists,  men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  who  were  of  the  liberal  type 
of  Barnabas  and  Stephen  and  Phihp;  and  these  men,  moved  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  took  the  historic  step  of  proclaiming  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  the  Greeks.'  This  step  was  doubtless  objectionable  to  some,  at 
least,  of  the  Jewish  believers,  and  it  may  well  have  been  through  these 
that  the  new  departure  was  first  made  known  to  the  church  in  Jeru- 
salem. In  consequence  of  this  report  Barnabas  was  sent  to  Antioch,, 
where  he  continued  in  acceptable  and  fruitful  labor  for  more  than  a 
year  (Acts  11:23,  26).  During  most  of  this  time  he  was  aided  by 
Paul,  whom  he  had  sought  out  and  brought  from  his  mission  field 
somewhere  in  Cilicia  or  Syria,  perhaps  from  Tarsus  (Acts  11 :25,  26). 

This  narrative  regarding  the  foundation  and  early  history  of  the  church 
in  Antioch  has  been  said  to  be  altogether  unhistorical  (cf.,  e.  g.,  Weizsacker, 
The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  104-10).  "No  single  detail  is  possible."  The 
account  which  Paul  himself  gives  of  his  relation  to  the  church  in  Jerusalem 
excludes,  we  -are  told,  the  possibility  that  he  came  to  Antioch  as  the  helper  of 
Barnabas,  who  had  been  sent  out  from  Jerusalem  as  the  official  superintendent 
of  the  new  work.  Now  if  Barnabas  had  been  sent  forth  as  the  official  director 
of  the  work  in  Antioch,  and  if  he  had  been  recognized  and  received  as  such  by 
the  church  there,  then,  indeed,  the  statement  of  Paul 's  relation  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Antioch  church  might  have  occasioned  surprise,  inasmuch  as  he 
declared  some  years  later  that  he  had  been  quite  independent  of  the  original  apostles 
(Gal.  2).  We  can  not,  however,  assume  that  Barnabas,  a  man  of  like  mind 
with  Paul  in  regard  to  the  right  of  preaching  the  gospel  directly  to  the  gentiles, 
was  sent  out  by  the  church  in  Jerusalem  to  guide  the  Antioch  movement  in  the 
interest  of  Jewish  Christianity.  If  that  had  been  the  purpose  of  the  church, 
which  Acts  does  not  at  all  indicate,  then  their  choice  of  Barnabas  certainly  defeated 
their  purpose.  Moreover,  there  is  no  trace  whatever  that  the  church  in  Antioch 
recognized  Barnabas  as  having  any  official  authority  to  modify  its  development 
in  any  particular.  That  church  had  been  founded  independently  of  the  apostles, 
and  it  had  not  sent  to  them  for  their  sanction  of  what  had  been  done,  or  to  ask 
for  guidance.     And  Luke  does  not  say  that  Barnabas  approved  of  the  work,  as 

I  The  internal  evidence  of  Acts  11:19-26  seems  to  prove  that  the  author  had 
Greeks  in  mind  even  though  he  may  have  used  the  word  "Hellenists,"  which  some 
MSS.  have. 


EARLY    DAYS    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN   ANTIOCH  8l 

though  he  was  in  a  sense  ot'cr  it;  he  only  says  that  Barnabas,  being  full  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  faith,  was  glad  of  what  had  been  done,  and  lent  himself  heartily 
to  the  furtherance  of  the  work. 

The  church  in  Jerusalem  undoubtedly  looked  with  distrust  and  hesitation 
upon  the  free  offer  of  Jesus  to  the  gentiles.  This  is  the  teaching  both  of  Paul 
and  of  Acts.  There  had  been,  prior  to  the  work  in  Antioch,  but  one  instance  of 
preaching  to  gentiles,  and  that  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  exceptional. 
Even  Peter  himself  had  not  continued  in  the  field  which  had  been  providentially 
opened  to  him.  In  these  circumstances  the  Jerusalem  church  was  naturally 
solicitous  regarding  the  work  in  Antioch,  and  in  its  solicitude  it  sent  Barnatas 
thither.  The  exact  purpose  of  this  step  is  not  suggested  by  Luke,  but  his  narra- 
tive does  appear  to  exclude  the  view  that  the  purpose  was  to  control  the  work  in 
Antioch,  to  shut  the  door  of  the  church  to  tl-.e  gentile?,  or  t'^  admit  them  o-'ly  by 
the  way  of  Judaism. 

There  remains,  therefore,  no  ground  for  rejecting  the  statement  that  Paul 
came  to  Antioch  at  the  request  of  Barnabas  and  labored  with  him  there  for  a 
year,  teaching  and  building  up  the  church.  His  principle  that  he  would  not 
build  on  another  man's  foundation  was  by  no  means  a  declaration  that  he  would 
not  co-operate  with  others  in  Christian  work,  or  that  he  would  in  no  circumstances 
carry  on  what  another  had  begun.  In  Corinth,  it  is  true,  he  planted  and  Apollos 
watered;  but  in  Rome  someone  else  planted  and  he  watered.  By  the  very 
letter  in  which  the  words  occur  (Romans)  he  was  building  on  a  foundation  which 
he  had  not  laid.  And  we  may  be  sure  that  the  work  in  Antioch,  inaugurated  by 
Hellenists  like  himself,  a  work  among  gentiles  like  that  which  he  was  doing, 
would  have  appealed  to  Paul,  and  especially  as  it  asked  his  help  by  the  mouth 
of  his  old  friend  Barnabas. 

3)  The  name  "Christian.'^ — It  is  inherently  probable  that,  as 
Luke  says,  the  name  "Christian"  arose  in  Antioch  with  the  first 
general  preaching  to  the  gentiles.  He  indicates  that  the  name  origi- 
nated outside  the  church  when  he  says  that  the  disciples  were  called 
Christians.  They  called  themselves  "brethren"  and  "disciples;" 
the  new  name  was  not  of  their  own  coinage.  It  is  likely  that  it  origi- 
nated with  the  gentiles,  for  the  Jews  did  not  admit  that  the  disicples 
of  Jesus  were  followers  of  the  true  Messiah  or  Christ;  and  so  if 
they  had  called  them  Christians  they  would  have  appeared  to  admit 
what  they  did  not  believe. 

Since  it  is  natural  to  call  disciples  by  the  name  of  their  master, 
there  is  no  ground  to  think  that  the  name  "Christian"  w^as  given  in 
derision. 

§  58.  Relief  Sent  from  Antioch  to  the  Brethren  in  Judea. — While 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  laboring  in  Antioch  certain  "prophets" 


52  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

came  down  from  Jerusalem,  one  of  whom,  Agabus  by  name,  signi- 
fied that  there  would  be  a  great  famine  over  all  the  world.  This 
prophecy,  which,  according  to  Luke,  was  fulfilled  in  the  days  of 
Claudius  (41-54  a.  d.),  stirred  up  the  Christians  of  Antioch  to  prepare 
to  aid  their  fellow-believers  in  Judea,  and  when  the  collection  was 
ready,  it  was  given  into  the  hands  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  be  con- 
veyed to  its  destination. 

Although  the  proper  function  of  the  Christian  prophet  was  not  to  foretell 
coming  events,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  such  power  was  sometimes  exer- 
cised by  them,  and  there  appears  to  be  no  good  ground  to  think  that  Paul  would 
have  refused  to  serve  his  brethren  in  the  distribution  of  their  gift.  Yet  both  the 
statement  that  Paul  visited  Jeruialem  at  this  time  and  the  other  that  there  was 
a  famine  over  all  the  world  in  the  days  of  Claudius  are  somewhat  difficult.  First, 
regarding  the  famine.  Though  Josephus  tells  of  a  famine  in  Judea  in  the  period 
44-48  A.  D.  {Antiq.,  20.2.5;  5-2;  3-I5-3),  and  though  there  is  evidence  of 
other  local  famines  during  the  reign  of  Claudius  (cf.  Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People, 
etc.,  Div.  I,  Vol.  II,  pp.  169,  170),  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  universal  famine, 
that  is,  universal  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Moreover,  it  is  improbable  that  Agabus, 
who,  as  a  Christian,  was  concerned  with  the  kingdom  of  God  and  with  the  world 
only  as  it  was  related  to  that  kingdom,  prophesied  a  universal  famine.  Had  he 
announced  such  a  famine,  the  disciples  of  Antioch  must  have  been  concerned 
to  lay  up  money  and  food  for  their  own  need,  of  which,  however,  there  is  no 
trace.  It  is  to  be  held,  therefore,  that  Agabus  foretold  a  famine  for  Judea,  and 
that  the  language  of  Acts  shows  the  influence  of  the  fact  that  the  reign  of  Claudius 
was  marked  by  an  unusual  number  of  famines  in  different  parts  of  the  Empire. 

In  regard  to  Paul's  visit  in  Jerusalem  at  this  time,  the  narrative  seems,  indeed, 
to  be  at  variance  with  the  letter  of  Paul  to  the  Galatians,  for  while  he  there 
mentions  various  visits  in  Jerusalem,  he  does  not  mention  this.  Now  Paul  is, 
of  course,  our  final  authority  on  the  events  of  his  own  life,  and  if  it  is  plain  that 
he  was  under  obligation  to  mention  all  the  visits  that  he  made  to  Jerusalem 
before  the  time  of  the  council,  then  we  can  not  accept  the  narrative  of  Luke. 
But  was  he  under  such  an  obligation  to  his  readers  in  Galatia?  What  was 
the  point  on  which  he  was  insisting  in  his  letter  ?  Nothing  else  than  the  inde- 
pendence of  his  apostleship  (see,  e.  g..  Gal.  1:1,  12).  He  was  under  obligation 
to  mention  all  facts  which  might  fairly  be  said  to  involve  dependence  or  inde- 
pendence in  his  relation  to  the  elder  apostles.  Beyond  this  his  visits  to  Jerusa- 
lem had  no  bearing  on  the  point  in  discussion,  and  hence  we  have  no  right  to 
assume  that  he  enumerates  all  his  visits  in  the  letter  to  the  Galatians.  What  the 
argument  re'iuires  is  that  he  there  mentions  all  his  interviews  with  the  Jeru- 
salem apostles.  But  plainly  he  may  have  gone  to  Jerusalem  in  44  a.  d. — that 
year  in  which  one  apostle  was  beheaded  and  another,  the  leader,  thrown  into 
prison — and  may  not  have  seen  any  of  the  twelve,  to  say  nothing  of  having  come 


EARLY    DAYS    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    ANTIOCH  83 

into  such  relation  to  any  of  them  that  he  would  feel  obliged  to  mention  the  visit 
in  his  letter  to  the  Galatians.     Such  we  consider  to  have  been  the  case. 

§  59.  The  Persecution  of  Disciples  in  Jerusalem  by  Agrippa  I. — 
Herod  Agrippa  I  was  a  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  as  he  was 
54  years  old  at  his  death  in  A.  d.  44  (cf.  Antiq.,  18.  8.  2),  he  was  born 
10  B.  c.  Shortly  before  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  so  about 
the  time  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  he  was  sent  to  Rome  to  be  educated, 
and  there  he  passed  more  than  two-thirds  of  his  life.  Soon  after  the 
death  of  Tiberius  (37  A.  d.),  Agrippa  was  given  the  tetrarchies  of 
Philip  and  Lysanias;  in  39  or  40  A.  d.,  the  tetrarchy  of  Antipas  w^as 
added ;  and  in  41  A.  d.  Claudius  gave  him  Judea  and  Samaria.  From 
that  time  to  his  death  he  ruled  over  the  same  territory  which  his 
grandfather  had  possessed. 

According  to  Josephus,  Agrippa  w^as  a  man  of  unbounded  gen- 
erosity, and  in  consequence  was  habitually  in  debt.  When  he  was 
made  king  and  lived  in  Palestine,  he  was  scrupulous  in  his  obser- 
vance of  the  rehgious  rites  and  customs  of  pharisaic  Judaism.  He 
was  so  good  a  Pharisee — probably  from  political  policy  rather  than 
conviction,  for  among  gentiles  he  lived  as  a  gentile — that  he  was  an 
enemy  of  the  Christians.  But  just  when  he  had  begun  to  persecute, 
sudden  death  overtook  him  at  C.-esarea.  The  account  which  Josephus 
(Antiq.,  19.  8.  2)  gives  of  the  manner  of  Agrippa's  death  agrees  in 
substance  with  that  of  Luke.  Both  writers  regarded  his  death  as  a 
just  judgment  of  heaven  because  he  had  not  rejected  the  impious 
flattery  that  was  paid  him  by  the  people. 

In  the  persecution  that  arose  at  Stephen's  death  the  leaders 
escaped,  but  when  Agrippa  put  forth  his  hand  it  was  against  the 
apostles  themselves.  James  he  killed,  and  Peter  was  destined  to 
the  same  fate.  He  w^as  put  in  prison,  and  w^as  supposed  to  be  se- 
curely guarded.  When  Agrippa  w^as  informed  of  Peter's  escape,  he 
examined  the  guards,  apparently  the  entire  sixteen,  and  commanded 
that  they  should  be  put  to  death.  The  natural  inference  from  this 
procedure  is  that  the  king  was  satisfied  that  the  guards  had  been 
criminally  remiss  in  their  duty.  If  we  knew  what  information  his 
examination  of  the  guards  ehcited,  we  might  perhaps  form  a  better 
idea  of  the  character  of  Peter's  deliverance.  But  even  if  it  was  shown 
that  one  or  more  of  the  guards  were  friendly  to  Peter  and  had  secured 


84  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

his  escape,  his  dehverance  was  still  an  event  for  which  the  church 
did  well  to  thank  God, 

The  details  of  Luke's  narrative  in  vss.  7-10  must  be  considered  in  the  light 
of  the  significant  statement  in  vs.  11.  Here  v^^e  have  the  same  language  that 
is  used  to  describe  Peter's  restoration  from  the  trance  into  which  he  fell  on  the 
house-top  in  Joppa.  It  is  said  that  he  "came  to  himself"  after  he  had  passed  the 
iron  gate.  This  implies  that  what  had  gone  before  was  all  as  a  dream  to  him. 
He  could  not  explain  it.  How  his  deliverance  had  actually  taken  place  he  appa- 
rently did  net  know.  What  he  knew  was  that  he  had  been  delivered  from  prison, 
and  he  saw  in  this  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord. 

After  Peter  had  reported  his  deliverance  from  prison  to  his  brethren 
who  were  gathered  in  the  house  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Mark,  he 
departed,  doubtless  in  the  same  night,  to  some  place  unknown  to 
Luke,  unknown  also,  it  may  be,  to  the  friends  of  whom  he  took  leave. 
The  death  of  Agrippa  which  occurred  soon  after  this  event,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  Roman  procuratorship,  doubtless  made  it  safe  for 
Peter  to  return  to  Jerusalem. 

§60.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  was  the 
mother-church  of  gentile  Christianity  ?  (2)  Describe  the  location 
of  Antioch  and  its  rank  in  the  Roman  Empire.  (3)  What  do  we 
know  about  the  Jews  and  proselytes  in  Antioch  ?  (4)  What  was  the 
relation  of  Barnabas  to  the  work  in  Antioch  ?  (5)  What  was  Paul's 
relation  to  this  work?  (6)  What  year  did  they  work  together  in 
Antioch?  (7)  By  whom  was  the  name  "Christian"  given?  (8) 
By  what  names  did  Christians  call  themselves  ? 

(9)  What  prophet  came  to  Antioch  while  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  laboring  there?  (10)  What  was  the  result  of  his  visit?  (11) 
What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  he  foretold  a  famine  in 
Judea  alone?  (12)  Does  the  mission  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem  at  this 
time  conflict  with  what  Paul  says  in  Galatians  ? 

(13)  Who  was  Herod  Agrippa  I?  (14)  Where  did  he  spend  the 
larger  part  of  his  life?  (15)  What  territory  did  he  receive  from 
Caligula,  and  what  from  Claudius  ?  (16)  How  long  did  he  rule  over 
all  Palestine?  (17)  What  was  his  attitude  toward  the  Jewish  re- 
hgion  ?  (18)  How  do  the  accounts  of  Josephus  and  Luke  agree  in 
regard  to  the  death  of  Agrippa?  (19)  Why  did  Agrippa  put  the 
guards  of  Peter  to  death?  (20)  What  is  the  suggestion  of  vs.  11  in 
regard  to  Peter's  own  knowledge  of  his  dehverance  ? 


EARLY    DAYS    OF   THE    CHURCH   IN   ANTIOCH  85 

(21)  James  was  killed,  Peter  escaped  and  saved  his  life:  does 
this  show  that  one  was  under  God's  protecting  care  and  the  other 
was  not  ?  In  what  sense  can  we  adopt  as  our  own  the  language  of 
Ps.  91  ? 

§  61.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  out  in  your  own  language  the  story  of  the  founding  of 
the  first  gentile  Christian  church.  The  following  outline  may  be 
used:  The  royal  city  of  Syria;  the  men  who  first  preached  Jesus  in 
that  city;  the  work  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  there. 

2.  Write  a  brief  account  of  Herod  Agrippa  I. 

3.  On   Antioch  read: 

Conybeare  and  Howson,  Lije  and  Epistles  oj  St.  Paid,  1:4;  Josephus,  Antiq., 
12. 3.1;  Jewish  War,  3.3.4;  7.3.3;  and  i  Maccabees  11:41-51. 

4.  Read  and  compare  Acts  12:21-23  ^^d  Josephus,  Antiq.,  19.  8.2. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  LIFE  OF  CERTAIN  JEWISH-CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES  IN  THE 
DISPERSION   AS    REFLECTED    IN   JAMES   AND    i    PETER' 

SYNOPSIS 

§  62.    Of  the  origin  of  James  and  i  Peter 

§  63.    Of  the  new  faith  among  the  readers  of  James 

§  64.    Of  the  new  faith  among  the  readers  of  i  Peter 

We  leave  now  for  a  little  time  the  narrative  of  Acts  and  the  out- 
line of  events  contained  in  the  letters  of  Paul,  and  seek  what  light 
the  epistles  of  James  and  i  Peter  have  to  throw  on  the  life  of  the  early 
church.  Paul  disappears  from  our  sight  for  the  present,  as  do  also 
the  locahties  with  which  our  history  has  thus  far  been  associated. 
We  come  into  a  new  atmosphere,  if  not  into  a  wholly  new  geographi- 
cal environment.  But  before  searching  these  letters  for  informa- 
tion regarding  the  church  of  their  time  we  must  take  a  brief  survey 
of  the  documents  themselves,  their  probable  authors,  readers,  and 
dates  of  composition. 

§  62.   Of  the  Origin  of  James  and  i  Peter. 

i)  The  conflict  of  present  opinions. — Regarding  the  authorship,  the  date  of 
composition,  and  the  fundamental  religious  character  of  these  two  letters,  as 
also  in  regard  to  the  nationality  of  their  readers,  there  is  still  among  scholars 
a  wide  diversity  of  views.  Thus,  e.  g.,  it  is  said  that  James  was  a  pre-Christian 
Jewish  writing  with  a  thin  Christian  veneer  (Spitta,  Massebieau),  or  that  it  was 
a  Christian  writing  from  the  early  part  of  the  second  century,  closely  related 
to  Clement  of  Rome  and  Hermas  (Harnack,  Jiilicher,  von  Soden);  that  it  was 
addressed  to  Jewish-Christians  of  the  Dispersion  (Weiss),  or  that  it  was  address- 
ed to  the  Christian  world  at  a  time  when  the  Jewish  element  was  no  longer 
of  any  account  (von  Soden);  that  it  is  a  true  letter  (Weiss),  or  that  it  is  a  form- 
less compilation  of  didactic  fragments,  prophecies,  and  words  of  judgment  (Har- 
nack). 

In  like  manner  there  is  a  notable  disagreement  regarding  i  Peter.  One 
regards  the  letter  as  dependent  on  James  (Davidson),  another  makes  James 

1  This  volume  makes  use  of  the  letters  of  the  New  Testafnent  so  far  as  they  con- 
tribute to  the  history  of  the  period.  It  does  not  aim  to  set  forth  their  doctrinal  content. 
Neither  does  it  enter  the  field  of  New  Testament  introduction  except  in  the  case  of 
documents  regarding  which  there  is  no  general  consensus  of  scholars. 

86 


LIFE    OF   JEWISH-CHRISTIAN    CHURCHES  87 

fifty  years  later  (Harnack);  it  is  said  that  it  was  written  to  Jewish  Christians 
(Weiss),  or  to  gentiles  (Holtzmann,  H.  J.);  that  it  was  written  by  Peter  (Bacon), 
or  Silvanus  (von  Soden),  or  Barnabas  (McGiffert),  or  perhaps  Silas  (Holtz- 
mann). It  is  held  that  if  we  leave  out  the  first  verse,  it  would  be  easier  to  hold 
Paul  for  the  author  than  Peter  (Harnack).  It  is  said  to  have  been  written  in 
the  time  of  Domitian  (von  Soden),  or  possibly  twenty-five  years  earlier  (Harnack), 
or  in  the  year  50  (Weiss). 

Of  the  two  writings,  the  uncertainty  of  critics  regarding  the  origin  of  James 
is  greater  than  it  is  regarding  the  origin  of  i  Peter,  though  even  i  Peter  is  a  good 
deal  tossed  about  as  we  have  just  shown. 

2)  The  author  of  James. — No  hypothesis  regarding  the  authorship  of  this 
letter  appears  to  be  so  free  from  objections  as  that  which  ascribes  it  to  James, 
the  leader  of  the  Jerusalem  church  (Acts  12:17;  i5-i3!  Gal.  2:9).  This 
James  appears  to  have  been  highly  esteemed  by  the  Jews  (cf.  Josephus,  Antiq., 
20.9.1),  for  when  Ananus,  the  highpriest,  caused  him,  with  others,  to  be  stoned, 
the  indignation  of  the  best  citizens  was  so  great  that  Ananus  lost  his  highpriest- 
hood.  Thib  James,  by  virtue  of  his  position  in  the  mother-church  and  his  rela- 
tion to  Jesus,  could  speak  to  the  Jewish  believers  of  the  Dispersion,  even  to  those 
who  were  not  Christians,  and  be  sure  of  a  hearing. 

It  seems  to  some  utterly  improbable  that  this  Jew  can  have  been  the  master 
of  a  fine  Greek  style,  such  as  that  of  the  letter,  but  even  if  this  be  granted,  it  in 
no  wise  precludes  his  virtual  authorship.  He  doubtless  had  friends  who  were 
masters  of  Greek,  if  he  was  not. 

The  fact  that  the  letter  says  so  little  of  Jesus,  so  little  of  the  fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  can  not  be  regarded  as  at  all  conclusive  against 
its  authorship  by  James.  For  the  little  that  it  does  say  is  exactly  what  we  should 
expect.  It  conceives  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  the  author  of  the  Christian  faith, 
whose  word  is  the  law  of  liberty,  and  whose  future  coming  is  the  goal  of  Chris- 
tian hope  (2:1,  7;  5:7,  8;  1:25).  Moreover,  it  has  numerous  echoes  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Its  representation  of  Christianity  as  the  culmination 
of  the  Old  Testament  religion  is  surely  in  accord  with  the  view  that  it  was  written 
by  the  brother  of  Jesus.  The  letter  thinks  of  God  as  the  holy  Father,  unchange- 
able in  goodness,  who  gives  liberally  to  all  who  ask,  and  who  looks  on  a  man's 
life  rather  than  his  profession.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  for  those  who  are 
rich  in  faith.  Now  these  views  surely  belong  to  primitive  Christianity,  and 
therefore  we  should  not  lay  too  great  emphasis  on  the  fact  that  they  are  not  more 
prominent  in  the  letter.  It  is  not  how  often  a  man  says  a  thing,  but  rather  what 
he  says  and  the  way  in  which  he  says  it,  that  enables  us  to  judge  of  his  position. 

The  worldliness  ascribed  to  the  readers  of  the  letter  has  been  regarded  as 
an  argument  that  it  can  not  have  been  written  by  James,  but  must  have  originated 
much  later.  But  this  argument  does  not  appear  to  be  very  conclusive.  The 
worldliness  of  certain  members  of  the  church  at  Corinth  was  quite  as  pronounced 
as  that  which  James  contemplated,  yet  we  know  that  the    letter    was   written 


88  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

between  50  and  60  A.  D.  Practical  immorality,  such  as  the  letter  of  James 
deals  with,  is  notoriously  a  plant  of  speedy  de\elopment. 

,3)  The  author  of  i  Peter. — The  opposition  to  the  genuineness  of  this  writing 
is  Jess  forcible  than  that  which  is  urged  against  the  genuineness  of  James.  We 
will  note  the  chief  points.  One  is  that  the  letter  was  written  in  Greek,  while 
Papias  (firs'  half  of  the  second  century)  tells  us  that  Peter  had  Mark  as  an  inter- 
preter. This  is  true,  but  Papias  does  not  say  in  what  language  Mark  served 
as  an  interpreter.  It  may  have  been  Latin;  but  even  if  it  had  been  Greek, 
that  is  no  reason  why  the  letter  should  not  be  Peter's.  Were  not  the  sermons 
which  Peter  preached  through  Mark  Peter's  own  sermons?  Would  the  letter 
be  less  truly  his  own,  in  its  thought,  if  he  had  help  as  to  its  Greek  form  ? 

Again,  it  is  said  that  the  author,  seeing  that  he  was  a  genuine  Paulinist, 
can  not  have  been  the  apostle  Peter,  for  he  surely  did  not  go  to  school  to  Paul. 
But  is  it  quite  sure  that  he  was  a  Paulinist  ?  The  points  of  agreement  in  thought 
and  language  between  his  letter  and  the  letters  of  Paul'  appear  altogether  natural 
when  it  is  remembered  that  both  Peter  and  Paul  were  eminent  Christian  dis- 
ciples who  were  alike  competent  to  interpret  and  apply  the  gospel  to  the  needs 
of  men,  and  when  it  is  also  remembered  that  they  lived  and  worked  at  the  same 
time.  It  would  be  a  remarkable  phenomenon  if  their  letters  to  Christian  dis- 
ciples revealed  no  points  of  close  similarity  when  dealing  w^ith  the  common 
themes  of  faith  and  life.  Paul  speaks  of  the  living  sacrifice  of  the  bodies  of 
believers  as  a  reasonable  or  spiritual  service.  Now  when  Peter  speaks  of  Christian 
teaching  as  reasonable  or  spiritual  milk,  and  a  little  later  speaks  of  offering 
spiritual  sacrifice,  must  we  conclude  that  he  was  borrowing  from  Paul  ? 

And  it  is  but  fair  to  remember  that  while  there  are  points  of  similarity  between 
I  Peter  and  the  letters  of  Paul,  there  are  also  fundamental  differences.  Thus, 
e.  g.,  Paul's  doctrine  of  Christ  is  in  some  points  widely  unlike  that  of  i  Peter, 
and  Peter's  references  to  the  life,  the  sufferings,  the  resurrection,  and  the  future 
revelation  of  the  Lord  are  far  more  conspicuous  than  Paul's  references  to  the 
same  subjects.  This  line  of  argument,  therefore,  does  not  appear  to  be  strong 
enough  to  endanger  the  claim  of  Petrine  authorship. 

4)  The  readers  of  the  letters. — The  address  of  the  letter  of  James  is  as  broad  as 
the  Dispersion,  that  of  i  Peter  is  limited  to  five  provinces  in  what  we  now  call 
Asia  Minor.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  letter  of  James,  though 
general  in  its  address,  took  special  account  of  the  condition  of  Jewish  believers 
in  Syria  and  in  the  provinces  which  are  named  in  i  Peter,  for  it  appears  to  have 
been  in  this  quarter  of  the  Roman  Empire  that  the  gospel  first  took  vigorous 
root  among  the  Jews.  To  declare  that  these  addresses  are  spurious  is  as  arbi- 
trary as  to  say  that  their  characterization  of  the  readers  must  be  taken  figura- 
tively.    The  address  of  James,  in  so  far  as  it  points  to  Jewish  readers,  is  in  accord 

I  Holtzmann,  Einleitung,  p.  518,  gives  the  following  as  the  strongest  parallels: 
Rom.  12:1  with  i  Pet.  2:2,  5;  12:2  with  1:14;  12:3-8  with  4:10,  11;  12:13  with 
4:9;  12:9  with  4:8;    12:17  with  3:9;    13:5  with  2:19;  13: 12  with  2:  i;  13: 13  with  4:3. 


LIFE    OF    JEWISH-CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES  69 

with  the  letter  throughout,  which  nowhere  presupposes  that  its  readers  are 
gentiles.  The  address  of  i  Peter  is  objected  to  simply  because  it  contains  the 
name  of  Peter,  not  because  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  letter. 

The  only  serious  objection  to  the  view  that  both  letters  are  addressed  to 
Jewish  believers  outside  of  Palestine  is  the  fact  that  we  have  no  certain  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  groups  of  such  believers  in  the  Dispersion.  We  must,  however, 
remember  the  exceedingly  fragmentary  character  of  our  knowledge  of  the  earliest 
spread  of  Christianity.  If  there  were  Christian  Jews  in  Damascus  before  the 
conversion  of  Paul  (Acts  8:10,  13,  14).  why  may  there  not  have  been  in  Antioch 
of  Syria,  or  in  any  of  the  great  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  in  all  of  which  there  were 
numerous  Jews?  There  is  nothing  in  the  account  of  Paul's  work  in  the  cities 
of  Asia  Minor  which  precludes  the  possibility  that  there  were  Jewish  Christians 
in  that  part  of  the  world. 

5)  Dates  of  composition. — James,  "the  righteous,"  was  stoned  in  Jerusalem 
in  62  A.  D.,  and  Peter,  according  to  very  ancient  tradition,  perished  in  Rome 
during  the  Neronian  persecution,  62-64  a.  d.  If,  then,  these  men  wrote  the 
letters  in  question,  we  have  one  limit  of  the  period  in  which  they  must  have 
written  them.  There  are,  moreover,  certain  points  in  the  letters  which  seem 
to  favor  a  date  considerably  earlier  than  62  A.  d.  Thus,  in  James,  it  is  assumed 
that  the  Jewish  believers  addressed  still  met  in  the  synagogue  (2:2),  though 
they  had  their  own  organization  as  a  church  with  elders  (5:14).  Now,  in  view 
of  the  experience  of  believers  in  Jerusalem  and  the  history  of  Paul's  missionary 
work,  this  fact  regarding  a  common  use  of  the  synagogues  by  believing  and  unbe- 
lieving Jews  favors  the  period  40-50  a.  d.,  rather  than  50-60  A.  d.,  as  that  in 
which  the  letter  was  written,  assuming  now,  as  we  surely  may  (Acts  9,  10),  that 
there  were  numerous  converts  among  the  Jews  in  the  next  decade  after  the  res- 
urrection, 30-40  A.  D. 

Again,  the  purely  ethical  character  of  the  letter,  the  absence  of  any  theo- 
logical material  even  in  regard  to  Jesus,  favors  an  early  date.  This  is  a  feature 
that  allies  the  letter  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It  furnishes  no  means  of 
setting  an  exact  date  for  the  composition,  but  it  distinctly  favors  a  relatively 
early  date. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  method  in  which  James  treats  the  relation  of  faith 
to  works  can  be  regarded  as  helping  to  settle  the  date  of  composition  of  his  letter. 
The  misconception  regarding  faith  which  it  presupposes  is  certainly  as  old  as 
the  time  of  the  great  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  (see,  e.  g..  Is.  1:11-17). 
The  apparent  divergence  of  the  thought  of  James  from  that  of  Paul  is  accounted 
for  by  the  different  aims  of  the  two  writers,  and  does  not  seem  to  imply  a  literary 
dependence  of  the  former  upon  the  latter. 

In  conclusion,  a  relatively  early  date  for  James  is  favored  by  the  allusion  to 
the  anointing  of  the  sick  with  oil  and  to  the  accompanying  prayer  of  the  elders, 
or  of  any  fellow-believers  (5: 14,  16).  For,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  plain  that  the 
elders  are  not  thought  of  as  an  hieratic  class,  without  whom  healing  was  not 


99  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

possible.  They  are  mentioned  rather  as  the  natural  spiritual  leaders  of  the 
Christian  community,  but  it  is  also  recognized  that  any  believers  can  pray  one 
for  another,  that  they  may  be  healed  of  their  sicknesses.  On  the  other  hand, 
this  passage  points  to  a  relatively  early  time,  because  the  supernatural  healing 
which  was  somewhat  prominent  in  the  first  years  of  the  Jerusalem  church  rapidly 
disappears  as  we  leave  those  years  behind.  Later  cas^s  are  sporadic  in  char- 
acter.   Hence  the  instruction  of  James,  which  is  quite  general,  favors  an  early  date. 

In  I  Peter  also  there  are  some  marks  of  time,  indecisive,  it  is  true,  like  those 
of  James,  and  yet,  when  taken  together,  having  an  appreciable  value.  Thus, 
in  the  first  place,  as  the  readers  are  Jewish  believers  of  the  Dispersion  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  so,  apparently  the  same,  at  least  in  part,  as  the  readers  of  James, 
we  may  infer  from  the  more  favorable  picture  of  them  in  i  Peter  that  this  letter 
was  later  than  James,  and  that  the  condition  of  the  readers  had  improved  in  the 
interval.  It  is  to  be  recognized,  however,  that  two  men  so  widely  unlike  as 
Peter  and  James  may  have  taken  quite  different  views  of  the  same  people  at  one 
and  the  same  time. 

Again,  the  fact  that  both  Silvanus  and  Mark  were  with  Peter  at  the  time  of 
the  composition  of  his  letter  may  have  some  bearing  on  the  question  of  date 
(t  Pet.  5:12,  13).  We  know  that  Silvanus  was  with  Paul  on  his  second  mis- 
.sionary  journey  (^9-51  a.  d.),  and  that  Mark  accompanied  him  for  a  time  on 
his  first  journey  (Acts  15:38).  Now,  in  view  of  the  sharp  censure  which  Paul 
directed  against  Peter  in  Antioch  shortly  after  the  council  in  Jerusalem  (Gal.  2: 
11),  though  this  censure  may  have  been  received  by  Peter  in  good  part  and  may 
not  have  alienated  him  from  his  brother  apostle,  it  may  still  be  regarded  as  a 
little  more  probable  that  the.se  fellow-workers  of  Paul  were  with  Peter  before 
that  event  in  Antioch  rather  than  after  it. 

Mention  is  to  be  made  of  one  other  point.  Two  of  th^  five  provinces  in 
which  the  readers  of  i  Peter  dwelt  belonged  in  Paul's  missionary  field,  viz., 
Galatia  and  Asia.  We  know  that  soon  after  Paul's  work  in  Galatia  the  question 
of  the  gentiles'  relation  to  the  law  was  hotly  debated.  Now  the  fact  that  the 
letter  of  Peter  makes  no  allusion  to  this  question  appears  to  favor  the  view  that 
it  was  not  written  while  the  question  was  at  the  front;  for  though  the  little  circles 
of  believers  whom  he  addressed  may  have  been  distinct  from  the  churches  of 
Paul  in  those  regions,  they  can  hardly  have  continued  long  without  being  influ- 
enced by  that  which  deeply  stirred  these  churches;  and  therefore,  assuming  the 
genuineness  of  the  letter,  this  fact  points  to  a  composition  before  Paul  wrote  to 
the  Galati  ns.' 

It  is  idle  to  attempt  to  fix  the  exact  date  of  the  composition  of  James  or  of 
I  Peter,  but  the  internal  evidence  appears  to  favor  the  early  part  of  the  fifth 
Christian  decade  for  the  composition  of  the  former,  and  to  put  the  latter  before 
the  composition  of  Galatians. 

I  This  seems  more  probable  than  that  the  question  ceased  to  be  discussed  before 
the  death  of  Peter,  so  that  he  could  have  written  even  after  the  composition  of  Gala- 
tians without  any  allusion  to  it. 


LIFE   OF  JEWISH-CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES  9I 

§63.   Of  the  New  Faith  among  the  Readers  of  James. — Like 

the  converts  of  Paul  in  Corinth  (i  Cor.  i :  26-29),  the  believers  whom 
our  letter  contemplated  were  prevaihngly  "poor  as  to  the  world" 
(2:5),  though  not  exclusively  so  (i:io).  They  were  exposed  to 
manifold  trials  (1:2),  the  chief  of  which  were  probably  the  oppres- 
sion which  they  suffered  from  the  rich  (2:6;  5:4),  their  being  dragged 
to  the  judgment  seats  (2:7),  and  the  occasional  death  of  one  of  their 
number  (5:6).  As  it  was  their  rich  countrymen  who  cited  them 
before  the  tribunals,  and  as  it  seems  to  have  been  at  such  times  that 
they  heard  the  name  of  Jesus  blasphemed,  we  see  plainly  that  what 
took  place  was  a  repetition  of  what  had  occurred  in  Jerusalem  when 
Paul  was  ravaging  the  church  (Acts  8:9;  26:11).  The  tribunals 
were  Jewish,  and  it  was  attempted  to  make  believers  blaspheme  the 
name  of  Jesus. 

TJie  ethical  condition  of  the  readers  reveals  various  defects. 
There  was  hastiness  of  speech  (1:19-21),  there  was  a  failure  to  act 
on  the  word  of  truth  which  they  had  heard  (1:22-27),  there  were 
class  distinctions  (2:1-13),  ^  tendency  to  sever  faith  from  life 
(2  :  14-26),  an  inordinate  ambition  to  shine  as  teachers  (3 : 1-18),  and, 
worst  of  all,  a  worldly  spirit  (4:1 — 5:11).  Now  these  defects,  espe- 
cially the  last,  were  obviously  serious,  and  appropriately  called  forth 
serious  words  of  rebuke  and  warning  from  James,  but  it  is  quite 
without  warrant  to  represent  the  state  of  the  readers  as  one  of  utter 
worldliness.  The  gravest  of  these  defects  were  found  in  the  Corin- 
thian church,  and  yet  others  even  worse. 

But  while  there  were  serious  moral  defects  among  the  readers  of 
James,  these  must  not  be  allowed  to  hide  or  obscure  the  virtues  which 
also  throve  among  them.  It  is  not  undeserving  of  notice  that,  while 
the  letter  speaks  of  the  manifold  trials  of  the  readers,  it  does  not  inti- 
mate that  any  of  them  fell  away  from  Christ  because  of  these  trials. 
On  the  contrary,  it  intimates  that  some  of  them  endured  martyrdom 
(5:6).  Here  then  we  see  at  least  one  bright  beam  of  light  across  the 
picture.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  author  measured  all  defects 
by  the.  ideal  standard,  and  his  ideal  was  so  high  that  he  declared  a 
man's  religion  altogether  vain  who  did  not  bridle  his  tongue  and 
whose  life  did  not  accord  with  his  profession.  In  view  of  these  facts 
we  may  probably  conclude  that  the  readers  of  James  were  about  the 


92  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

average  Christians  of  their  day,  and  not  greatly  iinhke  the  average 
among  us  today. 

The  nev^  faith  appears  in  James  as  an  ethical  force  rather  than 
an  elaborate  doctrine.  It  furnished  an  ideal  of  moral  perfection, 
w^hich  w^as  thought  of  as  the  consummation  of  the  old  law,  and  it  fur- 
nished a  great  motive  in  the  future  coming  of  the  Lord.  The  father- 
hood of  God  and  the  messiahship  of  Jesus  are  in  the  background  of 
the  letter,  but  they  are  there  as  fundamental  facts.  The  fatherhood 
is  universal  as  in  the  gospel,  and  Jesus  is  thought  of  as  the  one  who 
has  taught  us  to  believe  in  God.  Christian  faith  is  called  the  faith 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  this  word,  hke  Heb.  12:2,  we  under- 
stand to  mean  that  the  faith  which  Jesus  exercised  was  the  type  of 
true  Christian  faith.  Thus  on  these  fundamental  points,  it  is  as- 
sumed that  the  position  of  the  readers  was  that  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity. 

§  64.  Of  the  New  Faith  among  the  Readers  of  i  Peter. — The 
message  of  i  Peter,  like  that  of  James,  is  pre-eminently  a  message 
for  those  who  suffer.  The  source  of  persecution  was  now  no  longer 
the  Jewish  fellow-countrymen  of  the  readers,  but  it  was  the  gentiles 
(2:12;  4:3;  4: 16).  The  ground  or  grounds  of  gentile  hostihty  at 
the  time  when  Peter  wrote  are  indicated  by  him  only  in  the  most 
general  manner.  It  was  charged  against  his  readers  that  they  were 
"evil-doers,"  and  this  broad  accusation  is  somewhat  illuminated  by 
two  passages.  The  first  suggests  that  the  special  form  of  evil-doing 
of  which  Christians  were  said  to  be  guilty  was  disregard  for  rulers 
(2:13-17),  and  the  second  has  the  somewhat  different  suggestion 
that  they  were  hated  and  spoken  evil  of  because  they  refused  to  walk 
in  "lasciviousness,  lusts,  wine-bibbings,  revelings,  carousings,  and 
abominable  idolatries."  This  ground,  if  the  last  item  be  excepted, 
points  to  a  social  separation  of  the  believers  from  former  compan- 
ions. The  animus  of  the  charge  in  this  case  was  that  the  Christians 
by  this  separation  of  themselves  from  the  practices  and  customs  of 
others  thereby  tacitly  condemned  those  practices  and  customs  as  evil. 
If  by  the  "abominable  idolatries"  be  meant  an  idolatrous  regard 
for  any  earthly  ruler,  such  as  the  worship  of  the  images  of  the  em- 
perors on  the  coi'is,  then  this  passage  has  to  some  extent  a  poKtical 
color. 


LIFE    OF   JEWISH-CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES  93 

It  is  also  thought  possible  by  the  author  (4: 14,  16)  that  some  of  the 
readers  may  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ,  that  is,  simply 
because  they  bear  this  name,  whether  a  charge  of  evil-doing  is  brought 
against  them  or  not.  From  this  passage  it  has  been  inferred  by  some 
writers  that  the  letter  can  not  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  Nero, 
and  by  others  that  it  was  written  in  the  time  of  Domitian.  But  it 
seems  plain  that  as  soon  as  the  name  "Christian"  was  coined  (44  A. 
D.),  believers  may  have  been  persecuted  as  Christians.  The  mere 
use  of  that  name  does  not  define  the  origin  and  nature  of  a  particular 
persecution.  Furthermore,  there  is  no  suggestion  in  i  Peter  that  the 
trials  to  which  the  readers  were  exposed  were  due  to  the  policy  of  the 
reigning  emperor,  and  we  have  no  right  to  make  such  an  assumption. 

Now  in  their  trials  the  readers  were  variously  aided  by  the  new 
faith.  They  were  to  consider  that  the  very  call  to  be  Christians 
involved  a  call  to  suffering  (2:21;  cf.  Matt.  10:16-39),  and  also  that 
the  endurance  of  suffering  for  righteousness'  sake  put  them  into  the 
same  class  with  Jesus  (3: 17,  18),  made  them  partakers  of  his  suffer- 
ings (4: 13),  and  so  made  them  heirs  of  the  spirit  of  glory  and  of  God 
(4:14).  Special  stress  is  laid  on  the  significance  of  fellowship  with 
Christ's  sufferings.  His  example  in  all  his  sufferings  is  an  example 
to  be  followed  by  his  disciples,  and  following  that  example  out  of 
regard  for  Jesus  and  in  his  spirit  one  is  delivered  from  sin. 

Peter  also  encouraged  his  readers,  as  did  James,  with  the  thought 
that  the  end  was  at  hand  (4:7).  After  suffering  a  "little  while,"  they 
would  be  perfected  (5:10).  Therefore  they  were  to  set  their  hope 
on  the  grace  that  was  to  be  brought  to  them  at  the  revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ  (2: 13). 

Although  the  specific  occasion  of  our  letter  was  the  trials  to  which 
the  readers  were  exposed,  we  see  into  their  life  as  Christians  at  an- 
other point  which  is  worthy  of  notice.  The  letter  assumes  that 
there  were  "elders"  among  the  readers  in  various  places  throughout 
the  five  provinces  (5 :  i),  though  it  does  not  refer  to  a  church.  These 
elders  are  described  as  the  spiritual  guides  of  the  flock,  who  are  to 
serve  in  love,  having  that  authority  which  comes  from  a  holy  and 
attractive  example.  Bishops  and  deacons  are  not  mentioned,  neither 
is  there  allusion  to  meetings  for  worship.  Peter  assumes  among  his 
readers  a  knowledge  of  the  life  and  death,  the  resurrection,  and  future 


94  CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

coming  of  Jesus.  He  makes  no  allusion  to  any  other  source  of  this 
knowledge  than  the  messengers  who  had  brought  to  them  the  good 
tidings  (i:i2,  25).  He  also  assumes,  as  does  James,  that  his  readers 
are  familiar  with  the  Old  Testament. 

§65.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  How  widely 
divergent  are  the  current  views  regarding  the  origin  of  James  and  i 
Peter?  (2)  To  what  James  are  we  to  ascribe  the  letter  of  that  name  ? 
(3)  What  is  to  be  said  of  the  objection  that  James  can  not  have  written 
elegant  Greek?  (4)  What  of  the  fact  that  the  letter  says  little  of 
Jesus,  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  (5) 
Does  the  worldliness  of  the  readers  prove  that  the  letter  was  written 
after  the  time  of  James?  (6)  Does  the  fact  that  Peter  is  said  to  have 
had  an  interpreter,  while  our  i  Peter  was  written  in  good  Greek,  prove 
that  he  was  not  the  author  of  this  letter?  (7)  What  is  to  be  said  of 
the  similarities  between  i  Peter  and  the  letters  of  Paul  in  their  bear- 
ing on  the  authorship  ? 

(8)  To  whom  are  James  and  i  Peter  respectively  addressed?  (9) 
What  is  the  most  serious  objection  to  the  view  that  both  letters  were 
written  to  Jewish  beHevers  of  the  Dispersion?  (10)  How  is  the  ob- 
jection to  be  met  ? 

(11)  When  did  James  and  Peter  die?  (12)  What  is  there  in  the 
letter  of  James  that  points  to  a  relatively  early  date?  (13)  What 
marks  of  time  are  found  in  i  Peter? 

(14)  To  what  social  class  did  the  readers  of  James  belong?  Of 
what  nationality  were  they  ?  (15)  To  what  trials  were  they  exposed  ? 
(16)  Who  persecuted  them?  (17)  What  were  the  moral  defects 
of  the  readers?  (18)  What  virtues  did  they  show?  (19)  What 
type  of  Christian  doctrine  is  suggested  by  the  scanty  doctrinal  ref- 
erences in  the  letter? 

(20)  Whence  did  persecution  arise  to  the  readers  of  i  Peter?  (21) 
Does  the  use  of  the  name  "Christian"  indicate  the  source  of  the  per- 
secution? (22)  With  what  considerations  did  the  author  seek  to  sus- 
tain the  readers  in  their  trials?  (23)  What  conception  of  elders  is 
found  in  the  letter? 

(24)  To  what  extent  are  the  teachings  of  James  appropriate  to 
Christians  of  the  present  day?     Name  specific  examples. 


LIFE    OF    JEWISH-CHRISTIAN    CHURCHES  95 

(25)  What  teachings  of  i  Peter  impress  you  as  of  special  value 
for  men  of  today?  (26)  What  impression  do  you  gain  from  these 
two  letters  as  to  the  character  of  the  Christians  and  the  Christian 
life  in  the  early  apostolic  age?  (27)  What  does  the  reading  of  them 
suggest  as  to  (a)  the  rate  at  which  the  Christian  church  is  advancing 
from  age  to  age;  {b)  our  duty  at  this  hour  in  reference  to  the  progress 
of  the  church  ? 

§  66.    Supplementary  Topics  and  References  to  Literature. 

1.  On  the  basis  of  a  study  of  James  write  a  short  chapter  on  the 
life  of  the  readers — their  nationality,  social  position,  trials,  and 
Christian  faith. 

2.  On  the  basis  of  a  study  of  i  Peter  write  a  similar  short  chapter 
on  the  hfe  of  its  readers. 

3.  Collect  all  the  New  Testament  references  to  James  the  brother 
of  Jesus,  and  add  Josephus,  Antiq.,  20.  9.  i. 

4.  On  the  use  of  Greek  in  Palestine  in  the  first  century  see : 
Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I,  p.  48. 


PART  III 

THE  PAULINE  MISSION  IN  ASIA  MINOR,  MACEDONIA, 
AND  GREECE 


CHAPTER  XI 

PAUL'S   FIRST  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY 
Sl'NOPSIS 

§  67.    Barnabas  and  Paul  sent  forth  from  Antioch.  Acts  13:1-3 

§68.    The  work  in  Cyprus.  Acts  13:4-12 

§69.    In  Pisidian  Antioch.  Acts  13:13-52 

§70.    In  Iconium.  Acts  14:1-7 

§71.    The  work    in    Lystra  and  Derbe  and  the  return  to    Antioch   in   Syria. 

Acts  14:8-28 

§  67.  Barnabas  and  Paul  Sent  Forth  from  Antioch. — WTien  Bar- 
nabas and  Paul  returned  from  their  mission  to  Jerusalem,  whither 
they  had  gone  with  the  offering  from  Antioch,  they  took  with  them 
John  Mark  (Acts  12:25),  ^^^  in  this  fact  we  have  a  suggestion  that 
they  were  already  contemplating  such  missionar}-  labor  as  that  on 
which  they  soon  entered.  The  work  in  Antioch  had  been  thoroughly 
estabUshed,  and  it  was  natural  that  the  thought  of  Paul  should  be 
turning  to  new  fields.  He  felt  that  he  was  called  to  preach  to  the 
gentile  world  (Rom.  1:5),  not  merely  to  one  cit}'  or  one  province. 

The  separation  of  Paul  unto  missionar}-  work  implies  that,  among 
the  Christians  in  Antioch,  no  claim  to  apostleship  had  thus  far  been 
made  by  him.  Had  his  fellow-laborers  known  that  he  considered 
himself  an  apostle  and  di\dnely  ordained  to  work  among  the  gentiles, 
it  is  hardly  probable  that  they  would  have  ventured  to  dedicate  him 
to  such  work.  Hence  we  must  suppose  that  he  had  put  forth  no 
apostohc  claim;  doubtless  there  had  been  no  occasion  for  it.  The 
consciousness  of  apostleship  was  a  secret  of  his  own  bosom,  and  we 
might  never  have  heard  about  it  from  his  own  Hps  if  his  authority  had 
not  been  attacked.  There  is  no  reason  whatever  to  think  that  his 
dedication  to  missionar}'  work  had  anything  to  do  either  with  his 
claim  to  apostleship  or  with  the  bestowal  of  the  title  upon  him. 

Barnabas  and  Paul  were  set  apart  not  by  the  church  in  Antioch, 
but  by  other  prophets,  viz.,  Symeon,  Lucius,  and  Manaen.  While 
these  five  men  were  fasting  on  a  certain  occasion,  and  perhaps  con- 

99 


lOO  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

templaling  their  relation  to  the  wide  field,  it  was  borne  in  upon 
Symeon,  Lucius,  and  Mana?n,  by  the  Spirit,  that  Barnabas  and  Paul 
should  be  separated  unto  the  work  to  which  they  had  been  "called," 
that  is,  as  appears  from  what  follows,  evangelistic  work  in  gentile 
lands. 

There  was  a  good  preparation  for  such  a  spiritual  communication 
in  the  successful  work  which  these  two  had  already  done  in  Antioch, 
which  was  largely  a  work  among  gentiles.  The  fitness  they  had 
shown  for  this  work  may  well  have  convinced  their  brethren,  that 
God  would  have  them  especially  dedicated  to  it.  And  therefore, 
inasmuch  as  Barnabas  and  Paul  were  ready  to  go,  these  brethren 
laid  their  hands  upon  them  after  fasting  and  prayer,  and  so  sent 
them  forth. 

The  dedication  was  solemn,  as  the  work  before  them  must  have  been  recog 
nized  as  one  of  great  magnitude  and  responsibility,  but  it  was  in  no  sense  an 
ecclesiastical  ordination  (see  Hort,  Judaistic  Christianity,  p.  63).  It  established 
no  official  relationship  between  Paul  and  the  church  in  Antioch.  He  was  not 
supported  or  directed  by  it.  He  was  as  independent  in  his  future  work  as  he 
had  been  before  he  came  to  Antioch  to  assist  Barnabas.  But  since  the  church 
jn  Antioch  was  in  part  his  own  creation,  since  also  it  was  centrally  located  and 
of  great  importance,  it  was  natural  that  he  returned  thither  again  and  again 
during  the  years  of  his  missionary  labor. 

§  68.  The  Work  in  Cyprus. — Barnabas  was  a  native  of  Cyprus 
(Acts  4:37),  and  this  fact  may  very  likely  have  decided  the  mission- 
aries to  go  first  to  that  island,  especially  as  in  going  thither  they  would 
be  moving  toward  the  great  center  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The 
gospel  had  already  been  preached  in  Cyprus  to  some  extent  (Acts 
ii:ig),  but  how  widely  and  with  what. success  we  do  not  know. 
Again,  some  of  the  men  who  had  labored  in  Antioch  before  the 
arrival  of  Barnabas  and  Paul,  and  who  had  perhaps  also  labored 
with  them,  were  Cypriote  Jews,  and  hence  there  may  have  been 
among  the  Christians  in  Antioch  a  special  acquaintance  with  the 
needs  of  Cyprus,  which  had  something  to  do  in  determining  the  route 
of  Barnabas  and  Paul. 

The  missionaries  probably  walked  from  Antioch  to  its  harbor 
Seleucia,  sixteen  miles  distant,  and  there  they  took  a  boat  for  Salamis, 
the  eastern  port  of  Cyprus,  which  lay  about  140  miles  to  the  south- 
west.    John  Mark  whom  they  took  with  them  as  an  assistant  in  some 


I02  CHRISTIANITY   IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

capacity  which  is  not  defined,  was  a  cousin  of  Barnabas  (Col. 
4:10). 

Beginning  their  work  in  Salamis,  Barnabas  and  Paul  went  through 
the  whole  island  to  Paphos,  a  distance  of  about  100  miles.  This 
was  the  chief  city  of  the  island,  and  the  residence  of  the  proconsul, 
Luke  says  that  they  preached  in  synagogues,  but  makes  no  ref- 
erence to  any  contact  with  gentiles.  This  suggests  what  is  con- 
firmed also  by  other  evidence,  that  though  Paul  recognized  himself 
as  a  missionary  to  the  gentiles,  he  yet  judged  it  wise  always  to  begin 
work  with  the  Jews,  at  least  in  every  city  where  there  was  a  Jewish 
community.  We  hear  a  note  out  of  his  missionary  experience  when 
he  says  of  the  gospel  that  it  is  God's  power  unto  salvation  to  every- 
one who  believes,  to  the  Jew  first  and  also  to  the  Greek. 

The  single  incident  of  the  entire  tour  which  Luke  preserves  is 
the  meeting  of  the  missionaries  with  the  Roman  proconsul  Sergius 
Paulus,  who  summoned  them  to  his  presence.  They  appear  to  have 
met  Bar- Jesus  the  sorcerer,  who  w^as  with  the  proconsul,  before  they 
had  audience  with  Sergius  Paulus  himself  (Acts  13:6),  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  the  proconsul  heard  of  the  missionaries  through  him.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  when  they  sought  to  present  their  message  to  Sergius 
Paulus,  the  sorcerer,  fearing  that  the  newcomers  might  supplant  him 
in  the  favor  of  the  proconsul,  withstood  them.  This  aroused  the 
spirit  of  Paul,  who  denounced  Elymas,  and  who,  according  to  the 
narrative,  spoke  words  of  judgment  that  were  straightway  fulfilled 
in  the  temporary  blindness  of  the  sorcerer.  When  the  proconsul 
saw  what  was  done,  "he  believed,  being  astonished  at  the  teaching 
of  the  Lord." 

His  belief  involuntarily  reminds  us  of  Simon  the  Samaritan.  If  the  sorcerer 
was  smitten  with  blindness  at  the  word  of  Paul,  the  heathen  procurator  would 
naturally  look  upon  Paul  as  a  more  powerful  sorcerer.  It  seems  probable, 
however,  that  the  actual  events  have  been  somewhat  obscured  in  transmission, 
perhaps  were  so  obscured  before  Luke  incorporated  the  story  in  his  narrative. 
Smiting  an  opponent  with  physical  blindness  would  have  been  an  act  without 
parallel  either  in  Paul's  experience  or  in  that  of  any  other  apostle,  though  Peter 
had  had  even  greater  reason  to  call  down  judgment  on  Simon  the  Samaritan. 
The  fate  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  was  of  quite  a  different  order,  as  has  been  shown 
elsewhere.  Moreover,  it  seems  to  be  altogether  contrary  to  the  genius  of  the 
gospel  to  call  in  supernatural  power  for  the  overthrow  of  an  antagonist.     Jesus 


PAUL'S    FIRST   MISSIONARY   JOURNEY  IO3 

did  not  act  in  this  wise,  nor  did  he  intimate  that  such  a  dangerous  weapon  might 
be  wielded  by  his  followers.  He  taught  that  when  they  should  stand  before 
governors  and  kings,  they  would  have  heavenly  wisdom  in  utterance,  not  a 
power  for  destruction.  Therefore  it  seems  probable  that  the  story  of  what 
took  place  in  the  presence  of  Sergius  Paulus  underwent  modification  as  it  was 
transmitted. 

Luke  changes  the  name  of  his  hero  at  this  point  in  his  narrative. 
Before  this  he  had  called  him  Saul  exclusively,  and  after  this  he 
calls  him  Paul  exclusively.  The  reason  of  the  change  is  not  known. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  Paul  had  both  names  from  childhood,  in  ac- 
cord with  a  practice  common  among  the  Hellenists  and  not  unknown 
among  the  Jews  of  Palestine  (e.  g.,  Acts  12 :25),  and  that  Luke  intro- 
duced the  Roman  name  at  this  point  because  Paul  had  now  for  the 
first  time  preached  to  a  Roman  official  and  had  won  him  to  disciple- 
ship.  The  work  in  Cyprus  does  not  seem  to  have  been  attended 
with  great  success,  for  though  Luke  is  in  the  habit  of  recording  re- 
sults, he  is  silent  here. 

§69.  In  Pisidian  Antioch. — We  do  not  know  what  deter- 
mined the  route  which  the  missionaries  pursued  from  Cyprus.  Per- 
haps, for  the  first  stage  of  their  journey,  it  was  nothing  more  than 
the  presence  of  a  ship  bound  for  the  coast  of  Pamphylia.  The 
voyage  from  Paphos  to  Perga  is  one  of  about  175  miles.  At  Perga  no 
work  seems  to  have  been  done,  but  it  was  here  that  Mark  turned 
back.  The  reasons  which  led  to  this  step  were  regarded  by  Paul 
as  showing  a  decided  unfitness  for  further  missionary  service  (Acts 

15:  37-41)- 

The  new  stage  in  the  journey  of  the  missionaries  was  to  Antioch 
in  the  highlands  of  Asia  Minor,  a  distance  of  some  90  miles  in  a 
straight  line  from  Perga,  but  much  further  than  that  by  any  traveled 
route.  Antioch  (modern  Jalowadj),  which  Strabo  describes  as 
near  Pisidia,  was  a  Roman  colony  planted  by  Augustus,  and  con- 
sisted of  veterans  of  the  fifth  Gallic  legion.  As  a  Roman  colony  it 
was  not  under  the  control  of  the  governor  of  the  province,  but  had 
its  own  senate  and  popular  assembly. 

Of  the  details  of  the  work  in  Antioch  we  know  httle,'  though  the 

outcome  of  it  is  clear.     The  address  attributed  to  Paul  is  obviously 

I  If  the  church  in  Antioch  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  "Galatian"  churches  (Gal. 
1:1),  then  we  have  a  few  details  regarding  the  work  there  in  the  letter  to  the  Galatian s. 


I04  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

too  short  to  be  a  verbatim  report  of  what  he  said,  and  further,  as  a 
literary  production,  it  points  to  Luke  rather  than  to  Paul.  It  is  not, 
however,  necessary  to  conclude  that  it  is  a  free  composition  by  Luke. 
The  analogy  of  other  addresses  attributed  to  Paul  is  distinctly  against 
this  view.  Since  the  thought  of  the  address  bears  the  stamp  of  Paul, 
we  may  hold  that  Luke  worked  with  materials  derived  from  a  trust- 
worthy source. 

After  the  second  Sabbath  in  Antioch,  on  which  a  great  concourse 
of  people  was  addressed,  the  majority  of  the  Jews,  moved  by  jealousy 
of  this  new  faith  which  claimed  to  get  on  without  the  aid  of  Judaism, 
contradicted  the  missionaries  and  railed  against  them.  This  event 
was  recognized  by  the  missionaries  as  a  signal  that  they  should  turn 
to  the  gentiles,  which,  accordingly,  they  did,  laboring  among  them 
with  such  success  that  the  word  was  spread  abroad  throughout  the 
regions.  The  degree  of  their  success  maybe  inferred  from  the  bitter- 
ness of  the  hostility  of  the  Jews,  who  did  not  rest  until  they  had  driven 
the  missionaries  out  of  their  borders.  In  this  act  they  secured  the 
co-operation  of  the  chief  men  of  the  city,  that  is  to  say,  the  Roman 
officials;  but  on  what  ground  the  officials  aided  them  we  can  only  con- 
jecture. The  circumstance  that  there  were  prominent  female  prose- 
lytes engaged  in  the  movement  against  Barnabas  and  Paul  shows 
that,  though  the  proselytes  generally  furnished  a  receptive  soil  for 
the  gospel,  they  were  not  by  any  means  all  carried  away  from  Juda- 
ism by  the  new  faith. 

§  70.  In  Iconium. — What  determined  the  course  which  the  mis- 
sionaries took  when  driven  from  Antioch  is  quite  unknown.  They 
went  southeast  about  80  miles  to  Iconium,  which,  according  to 
the  Roman  organization,  was  in  Lycaonia,  but  which  Luke,  by 
implication  (Acts  14:6),  seems  not  to  have  regarded  as  Lycaonian, 
but  probably  as  a  city  of  Phrygia.  Iconium  was  an  important  city; 
and  as  it  was  created  a  Roman  colony  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  it  may 
have  enjoyed  this  distinction  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  preached  the 
gospel  in  its  synagogue. 

Luke's  narrative  makes  the  impression  that  the  w^ork  in  this  city 
was  even  more  successful  than  that  in  Antioch  had  been.  Many 
Jews  as  well  as  Greeks  believed,  and  this  may  explain  why  the  mis- 
sionaries were  not  driven  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  why  for  a  long 


PAUL  S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY  I05 

time  they  were  able  to  speak  boldly.  It  also  shows  how  they  may 
easily  have  become  aware  of  the  plan  to  stone  them,  and  so  were  able 
to  escape  the  wrath  of  their  foes. 

§  71,  The  Work  in  Lystra  and  Derbe,  and  the  Return  to  Antioch 
in  Syria. — About  eighteen  miles  southwest  of  Iconium,  near  the 
modern  village  of  Khatyn  Serai,  recent  investigators  have  located 
the  ruins  of  Lystra  (J.  R.  Sterrett,  Papers  of  the  American  School  of 
Classical  Studies  in  Athens,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  142;  Ramsay,  The  Church 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  pp.  47-54),  and  sixteen  miles  to  the  southeast 
from  Lystra,  in  the  ruins  of  Boscla  and  Losta  (Sterrett)  or  at  Giide- 
lissin  (Ramsay),  they  have  discovered,  as  they  believe,  the  site  of 
ancient  Derbe. 

There  is  no  reference  to  a  synagogue  in  Lystra  or  Derbe.  The 
multitudes  in  Lystra,  who  were  stirred  up  against  Paul,  were  per- 
suaded by  Jews  from  Antioch  and  Iconium.  This  would  indicate 
that  the  Jewish  element  in  these  towns  was  slight,  if,  indeed,  there 
was  any  at  all. 

The  first  cure  attributed  to  Paul  in  Acts  is  that  of  a  cripple  in 
Lystra,  which  appears  to  have  been  recorded  by  Luke  because  of  its 
consequences.  When  the  people  saw  what  had  been  done,  they 
concluded  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  gods,  as  the  people  of  Melita 
argued,  when  Paul  took  no  harm  from  the  bite  of  the  viper  (Acts,  28:6). 
This  was  the  pagan  inference  from  a  miracle,  while  the  Jewish  infer- 
ence was  that  the  one  who  wrought  the  miracle  was  a  prophet  (e.  g., 
John  9:17).  The  Lycaonians  identified  Barnabas  with  Zeus,  perhaps 
because  the  worship  of  Zeus  was  especially  cultivated  among  them 
(Acts  14:13),  and  naturally  identified  Paul  with  Hermes,  the  inter- 
preter and  spokesman  of  Zeus.  The  cure  of  the  cripple,  inasmuch 
as  it  convinced  the  people  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  supernatural 
beings,  was  productive  of  evil  rather  than  good,  so  far  as  the  people 
themselves  were  concerned. 

A  strong  light  is  thrown  on  the  passionate  opposition  to  Paul  on 
the  part  of  the  Jews  of  Antioch  and  Iconium  by  the  fact  that  they 
followed  him  to  Lystra,  and  there,  as  they  suppcsed,  killed  him. 
They  stoned  him  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  city.  How  Barnabas 
escaped  their  fury  we  are  not  told.  Though  Paul  had  been  stoned, 
he   had  received   no    mortal  blow:   he  had  only  been  stunned  and 


Io6  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

after  a  time,  his  enemies  having  apparently  departed,  he  recovered 
consciousness,  and  was  able  to  go  forth  the  next  day  to  Derbe. 
Here  the  missionaries  labored  for  a  considerable  time,  and  made 
many  disciples.  No  reference  is  made  to  the  presence  of  Jews  or  to 
any  opposition  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  From  Derbe  and 
Lystra  came  two  converts  whom  we  find  associated  with  Paul  in 
later  years  —  Gaius,  from  Derbe,  and  Timothy,  from  Lystra  (Acts 
i6:i;  20:4). 

Derbe  was  the  only  one  of  the  four  Asiatic  cities  in  which  Bar- 
nabas and  Paul  had  labored  from  which  they  departed  in  peace.  What 
led  them  to  face  the  peril  of  a  return  through  the  cities  where  they 
had  been  persecuted,  instead  of  going  on  homeward  through  the  pass 
of  the  Taurus  Mountains,  we  can  not  tell.  The  only  suggestion  of 
the  text  is  that  they  had  heard  of  trials  to  which  their  young  converts 
were  exposed  (Acts  14:22),  and  that  they  hoped  by  visiting  them  to 
confirm  their  souls  and  to  promote  their  growth.  To  this  end  they 
appointed  two  or  more  elders  in  each  church.  When  they  reached 
Perga  on  their  return  journey,  they  stopped  for  a  time  and  preached, 
with  what  results  Luke  does  not  say.  From  Attalia,  the  port  of  Perga, 
they  sailed  direct  to  Antioch,  Why  they  went  back,  instead  of  con- 
tinuing at  once  their  labors  further  west,  whether  it  was  to  encourage 
the  home  church  by  the  report  of  what  had  been  accomplished  among 
the  gentiles,  or  to  get  rest,  or  because  some  rumor  of  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  church  in  Antioch  had  reached  them,  we  do  not 
know. 

This  journey  of  Barnabas  and  Paul  was  full  of  physical  hardship, 
of  mental  and  spiritual  labor.  It  was  a  long  journey  for  those  days, 
covering  perhaps  1,400  miles  of  land  and  water.  It  had  occupied, 
on  a  conservative  estimate,  three  years.  The  tangible  results  were 
at  least  four  churches  in  important  centers,  and  the  evangelization  of 
large  adjacent  regions.  These  churches,  though  having  a  Jewish 
element,  were  predominantly  gentile,  and,  with  the  church  at  Antioch 
in  Syria,  measured  the  advance  which  Christianity  had  thus  far  made 
into  the  pagan  world. 

§  72.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  sug- 
gests that  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  contemplating  a  missionary  tour 


PAUL  S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY  I07 

when  they  returned  from  Jerusalem?  (2)  What  indicates  that  Paul 
had  made  no  claim  to  apostleship  during  his  work  in  Antioch  ?  (3) 
By  whom  and  how  were  Paul  and  Barnabas  set  apart  to  the  mission- 
ary work  ?  (4)  What  was  the  nature  of  this  dedication,  and  what 
sort  of  relation,  if  any,  was  established  between  the  missionaries  and. 
the  church  in  Antioch?  (5)  What  circumstances  may  have  led 
Barnabas  and  Paul  to  go  to  Cyprus  ?  (6)  Among  whom,  Jews  or 
gentiles,  did  the  missionaries  labor  in  Salamis  ?  (7)  On  what  prin- 
ciple did  Paul  apparently  proceed  in  approaching  the  gentiles  ? 
(8)  What  do  you  think  of  the  wisdom  of  this  principle  ?  (9)  Can  you 
state  it  in  general  terms  applicable  today  also?  (10)  Describe  the 
journey  from  Antioch  to  Paphos.  (11)  Describe  how  the  proconsul 
was  led  to  believe.  (12)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that 
the  actual  events  may  have  been  obscured  in  transmission  ?  (13) 
Why  may  Luke  have  changed  the  name  of  his  hero  after  the  event  in 
Paphos  ? 

(14)  Locate  Perga  and  give  its  distance  from  Paphos.  (15) 
What  did  Paul  think  of  Mark's  return  to  Jerusalem?  (16)  Describe 
the  journey  from  Paphos  to  Pisidian  Antioch.  (17)  What  was  the 
political  status  of  Antioch?  (18)  Why  did  the  Jews  of  Antioch  op- 
pose Paul?  (19)  What  was  the  result  of  the  labors  of  Barnabas  and 
Paul  in  Antioch? 

(20)  Locate  and  describe  Iconium.  (21)  In  what  respect  did 
the  work  differ  from  that  in  Antioch?  (22)  Where  were  Lystra  and 
Derbe?  (23)  What  and  where  was  the  first  cure  attributed  to  Paul 
in  Acts?  (24)  What  consequences  did  it  have?  (25)  How  was  the 
persecution  at  length  stirred  up  against  Paul,  and  how  did  it  result  ? 
(26)  Describe  the  work  in  Derbe?  (27)  What  may  have  led  the 
missionaries  to  go  back  to  the  cities  where  they  had  been  persecuted  ? 
(28)  Why  may  they  have  returned  to  the  Syrian  Antioch?  (29) 
Give  a  summary'  statement  regarding  the  entire  journey,  (30)  What 
characteristic  did  the  missionaries  manifest  in  their  work  on  this  tour  ? 

§  73.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

I.  Write  a  chapter  on  Paul's  first  missionary  journey,  having, 
perhaps,  the  following  outline:  Consecration  to  the  work,  compan- 
ions, trials,  and  results,  with  a  diagram  showing  the  cities  visited. 


[o8 


CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


(2)  On  theJDractice  of  sorcery  read: 

Josephus,  Antiq.,  8.2.5,  and  Ramsay,  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman 
Citizen,  p.  78. 

3.  For  the  view  that  the  churches  of  Galatia  were  in  south  Galatia 
see: 

Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  270  ff.;  for  other  views,  Gilbert, 
Student's  Life  of  Paul,  Appendix  III. 


THE  EMPEROR  CLAUDIUS! 


CHAPTER  XII 

PAUL'S  SECOND  SOJOURN  IN  ANTIOCH  AND  THE  CONFERENCE 
IN  JERUSALEM 

SYNOPSIS 

§  74.  The  "false  brethren"  or  judaizers.  Acts  15:1;  Gal.  2:3-5 

§  75.  The  conference  at  Jerusalem.  Acts  15:2-29;  Gal.  2:1-10 

§  76.  Report  of  the  compromise  to  the  church  in  Antioch.  Acts  15:30-35 

§  77.  Peter's  visit  to  Antioch.  Gal.  2:11-21 

§74.  The  *' False  Brethren"  or  Judaizers. — When  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  after  an  absence  of  some  three  years,  returned  to  Antioch, 
they  found  ^  the  church  agitated  over  the  question  of  the  relation  of 
gentile  believers  to  the  law  of  Moses.  This  agitation  had  been 
brought  on  by  certain  legalists  from  Jerusalem,  who,  when  they  had 
spied  out  the  liberty  which  gentiles  had  in  Christ  Jesus,  declared 
that  the  observance  of  the  law  was  necessary  to  salvation.  There 
were  undoubtedly  some  facts  to  which  they  as  followers  of  Jesus 
could  appeal  with  a  show  of  reason.  Thus  they  could  say  that  he  had 
never  abrogated  the  law  for  his  disciples,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had 
spoken  words  that  seemed  to  involve  its  perpetual  observance.  They 
could  also  point  to  his  performance  of  various  ceremonies  and  to  the 
uniform  practice  of  his  apostles  and  of  the  mother-church  in  Jeru- 
salem. All  this  appeared  to  favor  the  view  that  the  gentile  converts 
could  not  ignore  the  Jewish  law.  If  anyone  had  cited  the  case  of 
Cornelius  and  his  friends,  whom  Peter  had  received  without  subject- 
ing them  to  the  yoke  of  the  law,  the  judaizers  might  have  replied 
that  this  was  an  exception,  and  only  justified  by  the  supernatural 
vision. 

I  The  imperfect  ididaa-Kov,  taught,  in  Acts  15:1  may  be  regarded  as  contemporary 
with  the  imperfect  in  14 :  28,  in  which  case  the  judaizers  may  not  have  anticipated  Paul 
and  Barnabas  in  reaching  Antioch.  It  seems  better,  however,  to  define  it  by  reference 
to  the  return  of  the  missionaries,  and  to  understand  that  they  were  engaged  in  such 
teaching,  when  Paul  and  Barnabas  arrived;  for  if  they  had  been  on  the  ground  with 
their  story  of  God's  wonderful  work  among  the  gentiles,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
judaizers  could  have  made  any  deep  impression  on  the  church. 

109 


no  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

These  men  from  Jerusalem  must  have  presented  their  view  with 
great  abihty,  else  they  could  not  have  gained  a  favorable  hearing 
from  gentile  Christians  who  had  been  nurtured  in  the  freedom  of 
Christ.  It  was  inevitable  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  should  at  once 
oppose  this  doctrine  of  servitude  to  the  law,  and  natural  that  the 
church  thought  of  a  conference  with  the  apostles  and  elders  regarding 
the  matter.  The  appointment  of  Barnabas  and  Paul  as  leaders  of 
the  committee  to  visit  Jerusalem  indicates  how  the  majority  of  the 
church  looked  at  the  proposition  of  the  judaizers. 

§  75.  The  Conference  at  Jerusalem. — The  word  "council,"  often 
applied  to  the  gathering  in  Jerusalem,  is  objectionable  in  so  far  as 
it  suggests  an  ecclesiastical  body  with  power  to  legislate.  The  gather- 
ing was  simply  a  friendly  conference  of  a  younger  church  with  an 
elder  one.  And  the  younger  church  acted  on  its  own  initiative:  it 
was  not  summoned  to  appear  at  Jerusalem,  by  delegates,  for  the 
settlement  of  the  question  in  dispute.  It  did  not  assume  that  the 
church  in  Jerusalem  had  any  other  authority  than  such  as  belonged 
to  the  wisdom  and  the  experience  of  its  individual  members. 

The  real  question  at  issue  was  whether  the  statutes  of  the  Old 
Testament  law  were  of  permanent  and  universal  authority,  a  part  of 
the  will  of  God  for  all  men  and  all  time,  and  so  a  vital  part  of 
Christianity.  The  precise  question  in  which  this  great  problem  took 
form  at  the  moment  was  whether  gentile  Christians  must  be  cir- 
cumcised. 

The  conference  in  Jerusalem  was  important  for  the  immediate 
future.  Paul  himself  recognized  this  for  he  said  that  he  laid  his 
gospel  before  the  leaders  in  Jerusalem,  "lest  by  any  means  I  should 
be  running  or  had  run  in  vain"  (Gal.  2:2).  These  words  indicate 
that  he  deeply  desired  the  approval  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jerusalem 
church,  fearing  that  their  opposition  might  hinder  the  accomplish- 
ment of  that  which  he  had  in  view.  At  the  same  time  he  emphati- 
cally declared  that  those  leaders  "imparted  nothing  to  him,"  that  is, 
gave  him  no  new  authority  or  in  any  wise  altered  his  relation  to  the 
gentile  mission. 

We  have  two  accounts  that  treat  of  the  conference  in  whole  or  in  part, 
vi/.,  Acts  15  and  Gal.  2:1-10.  In  his  letter  to  the  Galatians  Paul  speaks  of  a 
private  meeting  with  the  leaders  of  the  church,  and  of   no  other.     At  this  ron- 


PAULS    SECOND    SOJOURN    IN    ANTIOCH  III 

ference  his  work  was  recognized  as  no  less  divinely  appointed  than  thai  of  Peter, 
and  he  received  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  from  James  and  the  two  foremost 
apostles-  Paul  tells  us  that  his  work  was  recognized  by  these  men  because 
they  saw  that  it  had  manifest Jv  been  owned  of  God  —the  same  argument  that 
pre^-a:lcd  when  Peter's  ci.urse  in  Ciesarea  was  called  in  question  As  an  illus 
tration  of  his  gentHc  mission,  he  had  taken  Titus  along  with  him  to  Jerusalem, 
somewhat  as  Peter,  at  an  earlier  day,  had  taken  his  friends  from  Joppa,  who 
could  testify  that  the  Spirit  had  been  poured  out  upon  the  Gentiles  who  heard 
the  gospel  in  the  house  of  Cornelius.  As  God  had  manifestly  accepted  Titus, 
though  uncircumcised,  Paul  could  maintain  that  he  should  not  now  be  circum- 
cised to  gratify  the  advocates  of  the  law. 

In  Acts,  we  hear  nothing  of  a  private  meeting  or  of  Titus,  but  only  of  a  public 
gathering  at  which,  after  the  Pharisaic  believers  had  been  heard  and  Peter  had 
spoken,  Barnabas  and  Paul  rehearsed  what  signs  and  wonders  God  had  wrought 
through  them,  and  James  brought  the  discussion  to  a  close  with  a  proposition 
acceptable  to  the  whole  church.  That  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  church 
as  a  whole,  and  not  merely  before  the  leaders  in  a  private  manner,  and  that  the 
opponents  of  gentile  freedom  had  an  opportunity  to  speak,  is  surely  probable, 
nor  does  such  a  meeting  conflict  with  Galatians.  A  private  conference  with 
the  apostles  and  elders  may  well  have  preceded  the  general  gathering.  The 
words  ascribed  to  Peter  and  James  at  this  gathering  accord  with  all  that  we  know 
about  the  men.  Peter  was  the  first  to  speak,  and  he  appealed  to  his  experience 
in  the  home  of  the  gentile  Cornelius.  James,  whom  Paul  mentions  as  the  first 
of  the  three  "pillars"  of  the  mother-church,  appropriately  closed  the  discussion. 
The  proposition  attributed  to  him  in  Acts  suits  what  we  know  of  his  religious 
po.sition.  It  included  three  or  four  of  the  seven  so-called  Noachian  prohibitions, 
whose  observance  by  gentiles  was  a  condition  of  intercourse  between  them  and 
Jews  (Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  p.  318).  These  pro- 
hibitions are  (i)  to  abstain  from  pollutions  of  idols,  such  as  eating  sacrificial 
meat;  (2)  to  abstain  from  fornication,  that  is,  probably  from  the  intermarriage 
of  near  relatives;  (3)  to  abstain  from  that  which  has  been  strangled;  and  (4) 
to  abstain  from  blood. 

The  decision  of  the  council  was  against  the  necessity  of  circum- 
cision for  the  gentile  Christians,  and  thus  in  effect  in  favor  of  Paul's 
contention  that  the  law  was  not  to  be  imposed  upon  gentile  Chris- 
tians. The  prescriptions  which  gentile  Christians  were  requested 
to  observe  were  simply  a  basis  of  social  intercourse  with  their  fellow- 
believers  of  Jewish  descent.  Without  some  such  regulations  the  new 
Christian  faith  would  have  been  offensive  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews. 
But  they  did  not  in  any  wise  affect,  nor  were  they  claimed  to  affect, 
their  standing  before  God.     If  these  observances  had  been  regarded 


112  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

as  a  stigma  on  gentile  believers,  it  would  hardly  have  been  said  in 
Acts  that  the  church  in  Antioch  "rejoiced  for  the  consolation"  (Acts. 
15:31).  And  it  is  plainly  impossible  to  suppose  that  James,  who, 
according  to  Galatians,  had  already  endorsed  Paul's  work,  went  be- 
fore the  church  and  proposed  a  measure  that  put  any  dishonor  upon 
the  gentile  believers. 

Luke  calls  the  terms  of  the  document  which  was  sent  back  to 
Antioch  "decrees"  (Soyfiara)  (Acts  16:4),  but  this  must  not  be 
misunderstood.  The  prohibitions  which  James  proposed  were  ne- 
cessary if  there  was  to  be  free  fellowship  between  the' gentile  and  the 
Jewish  believers.  Their  observance  by  the  gentiles  was  the  price 
they  must  pay  for  this  Christian  fellowship.  The  measure,  there- 
fore, was  a  compromise.  It  is  plain  that  it  belonged  in  the  sphere 
of  the  unessential,  and  that  the  liberty  of  the  gentile  believers  in 
regard  to  the  law  of  Moses  was  not  lessened.  The  aim  of  the 
judaizers  was  completely  repudiated  by  the  mother-church.  The 
"decrees"  did  not  touch  the  specific  question  which  the  church  in 
Antioch  had  brought  to  Jerusalem.  That  question  was  answered 
in  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  which  the  leaders  gave  to  Barnabas 
and  Paul.     The  decrees  were  simply  in  the  interest  of  fellowship. 

§  76.  Report  of  the  Conference  to  the  Church  of  Antioch. — The 
proposition  of  James  was  embodied  in  a  letter  and  sent  to  An- 
tioch by  the  hand  of  Judas  and  Silas  with  Barnabas  and  Paul. 
The  church  in  Antioch,  presumably  Jews  as  well  as  gentiles,  "rejoiced 
for  the  consolation."  They  were  glad  that  their  position  was  ap- 
proved by  the  elder  church.  There  is  no  indication  that  the  gentiles 
considered  it  a  hardship  to  comply  with  the  terms  of  the  letter  re- 
garding fellowship. 

According  to  Luke,  this  letter  was  intended  for  gentile  Christians  in  Syria 
and  Cilicia  as  well  as  for  those  in  Antioch,  and  he  says  that  when  Paul  and  Silas 
went  through  those  parts  on  the  second  missionary  journey,  they  delivered  it 
to  the  churches  (Acts  15:23;  16:4).  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  Paul 
never  referred  to  it  in  any  letter,  and  never  gave  his  gentile  converts  instructions 
similar  to  those  of  the  decree.  On  the  contrary,  he  told  the  Corinthians  that 
they  might  eat  meat  that  had  been  offered  to  idols,  unless  such  an  act  were  liable 
to  cause  a  brother  to  stumble.  Probably  he  took  the  same  attitude  toward 
the  other  prohibitions,  which  were  all  ceremonial  in  character.  The  fact  that 
Paul  never  refers  to  the  decrees  in  his  letters  may  indicate  that  they  did  not  prove 


Paul's  second  sojourn  in  antioch  113 

to  be  of  practical  value.     There  was  certainly  nothing  in  them,  however,  which 
was  not  also  involved  in  Paul 's  principle  to  become  a  Jew  to  the  Jews. 

§  77.  Peter's  Visit  to  Antioch. — Having  returned  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Antioch,  Paul  continued  there  for  a  time,  perhaps  to  counter- 
act the  impression  made  by  the  judaizers  and  to  promote  the  peace- 
ful co-operation  of  gentiles  and  Jews  with  the  church.  During  this 
time  Peter  visited  Antioch,  an  indication  that  the  gentile  mission  was 
a  matter  of  great  interest  to  Christians  in  Jerusalem.  Peter  found 
Jewish  believers  eating  with  gentile  believers;  and  he  did  the  same. 
This  point  had  not  been  discussed  at  Jerusalem  so  far  as  our  records 
inform  us,  and  from  the  compromise  adopted  there  it  was  possible  to 
draw  contrary  inferences  in  regard  to  Jewish  believers  sitting  at 
table  with  gentile  disciples.  One  might,  on  the  one  hand,  infer  that 
the  gentile's  freedom  from  circumcision  carried  with  it  freedom  from 
all  the  statutes  of  the  law,  and  thus  that  a  Jewish  Christian  was  at 
liberty  to  eat  at  a  gentile's  table.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  one  might 
insist  that  the  letter  of  the  compromise  at  Jerusalem  was  not  to  be 
transcended,  at  least  not  by  Jews,  that  the  gentile's  release  from  the 
necessity  of  circumcision  did  not  mean  at  the  same  time  the  Jew's 
release  from  his  own  ceremonial  law. 

It  is  plain  from  Peter's  embarrassment  and  subsequent  action 
that  the  decree  had  not  been  interpreted  in  Jerusalem  to  mean  that 
the  Jewish  behevers  might  eat  with  gentile  Christians,  that  is,  that 
all  ceremonial  distinction  between  them  was  done  away.  It  is  also 
plain  that  Paul  had  so  interpreted  it,  for  the  Jews  of  the  Antioch 
church  were  eating  with  the  gentiles  (Gal.  2:13).  Peter,  then,  was 
placed  in  a  difficult  position  by  the  arrival  of  believers  from  Jeru- 
salem who  held  with  James.  If  he  continued  eating  with  the  gentiles, 
he  would  separate  himself  from  his  brethren  in  Jerusalem ;  if  he  with- 
drew from  this  form  of  fellowship,  he  would  surely  alien-ate  some  of 
his  brethren  in  Antioch,  though  perhaps  he  did  not  anticipate  the 
sharp  reproof  of  Paul.  In  this  situation  Peter  yielded  to  the  pressure 
from  Jerusalem,  the  pressure  of  all  his  past  life,  and  retreated  from 
the  high  position  which  his  Christian  feeling  had  led  him  to  take. 
His  example  prevailed  with  the  Jewish  element  of  the  church,  and 
even  Barnabas  was  moved  to  take  the  same  stand.  The  unity  of 
the  Jewish- Christian  body,  which  had  been  threatened  by  their  recent 


114  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

liberal  action,  now  weighed  more  in  their  estimation  than  the  matter 
of  perfect  fellowship  with  the  gentile  believers. 

Paul  looked  upon  this  step  of  Peter  as  a  failure  to  walk  according 
to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  that  is,  as  a  serious  moral  fault;  to  him  it 
meant  in  effect  an  attempt  to  compel  the  gentiles  to  live  as  did  the 
Jews,  and  that  justification  by  works  of  the  law  would  take  the  place 
of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ.  In  other  words,  Paul  treated 
Peter's  act  as  belonging  to  the  sphere  of  fundamental  principles. 
Peter,  of  course,  had  not  considered  it  in  this  light.  He  probably 
had  no  desire  to  compel  the  gentiles  to  live  as  did  the  Jews,  conform- 
ing to  the  law.  Nor  had  he  any  thought  of  seeking  justificatiop  save 
through  faith  in  Christ.  It  was  to  him,  doubtless,  a  question  of 
Christian  expediency,  and  nothing  more. 

What  effect  Paul's  words  had  on  Peter  we  do  not  know.  There 
is  no  proof  that  they  embittered  him.  Barnabas  was  in  the  same 
position  as  Peter,  and  he  was  not  alienated  from  Paul  by  what  he 
had  said.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  from  this  time  the  issue 
between  gentile  and  Jewish  Christianity  was  more  sharply  drawn. 
Paul  had  made  his  position  clear,  that  no  Christian  believer,  Jew  or 
gentile,  is  under  the  law.  If  any  one  claimed  that  the  decree  of 
Jerusalem  implied  this,  then  it  is  plain  that  Paul  must  have  rejected 
that  decree.  To  him  the  question  at  issue  was  nothing  less  than  that 
of  the  ultimate  basis  of  religion.  Is  it  physical  or  moral  and  spiritual  ? 
If  Paul  regarded  the  action  of  Peter  and  the  view  of  those  who  came 
down  from  James  as  giving  the  authoritative  interpretation  w^hich 
the  apostles  and  elder  brethren  put  upon  the  decree,  it  is  certain 
that  he  did  not  dehver  it  to  the  churches  which  he  had  founded 
(Acts  16:4). 

§78.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — d)  Who  were 
the  "false  brethren"  ?  (2)  What  show  of  reason  had  they  for  their 
position  ?  (3)  How  did  the  church  seek  to  settle  the  question  ?  (4) 
What  was  the  nature  of  the  conference  in  Jerusalem  ?  (5)  Did  Paul 
regard  it  as  important  ?  (6)  What  accounts  have  we  of  the  confer- 
ence ?  (7)  What  was  the  character  of  the  meeting  according  to 
Galatians  ?  What  argument  prevailed  and  what  was  the  outcome  ? 
(8)  What  was  the  character  of  the  meeting  according  to  Acts,  and 


PAULS    SECOND    SOJOURN    IN    ANTIOCH  II5 

who  were  the  speakers  ?  (9)  What  argument  did  Peter  advance  ? 
(10)  What  was  the  proposition  of  James  ?  (i  i )  In  what  sense  was  it 
"necessary"?  (12)  Did  it  concern  the  fundamental  question  that 
had  agitated  the  church  of  Artioch  ?  (13)  Where  and  how  was 
that  cjucstion  answered  ? 

(14)  How  was  the  letter  of  the  Jerusalem  conference  received  at 
Antioch?  (15)  When  Peter  came  down  to  Antioch,  what  relation  did 
he  find  subsisting  between  Jewish  and  gentile  believers?  (16)  What 
did  he  do?  (17)  Was  this  consistent  with  the  Jerusalem  interpre- 
tation of  the  decree?  (18)  How  is  the  act  of  Peter  to  be  explained? 
{19)  What  effect  did  his  example  have?  (20)  In  what  light  did 
Peter's  step  appear  to  Paul?  (21)  What  effect  did  Paul's  words 
have  on  Peter?  (22)  What  was  the  nature  of  the  real  underlying 
issue  in  all  this  controversy  ?  (23)  Who  saw  most  clearly  what  was 
involved  in  it?  (24)  Which  side  do  you  judge  was  really  in  the 
right?  (25)  How  do  you  account  for  the  difference  between  Peter 
and  Paul  on  this  point  ?  Did  they  disagree  fundamentally,  or  did  one 
see  more  clearly  than  the  other  what  was  really  involved  in  the 
discussion  ?  (26)  Paul  stands  forth  in  the  narratives  clearly  de- 
fending the  freedom  of  Christians  from  the  statutes  of  the  law  and 
a  purely  spiritual  idea  of  religion.  Did  Peter  really  disagree  with 
this  view,  or  only  hold  to  it  less  consistently  through  lack  of  clear 
perception  of  what  it  involved  ?  (27)  Who  were  the  real  opponents 
of  Paul's  view  ? 

§  79.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  trouble  that  arose  in  the  church  of 
Antioch  in  reference  to  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  law,  and  how 
it  was  settled. 

2.  On  the  general  subject  of  Paul's  conflict  with  the  judaizers  read : 
McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.   192-234. 

3.  On  the  relation  of  Acts  11:27-30  and  Acts  15  to  Gal.  2   sec" 
Gilbert,  Student's  Life  of  Paul,  pp.  86-94. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PAUL'S  SECOxND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY 

SYNOPSIS 

§80.  The  discussion  between  Paul  and  Barnabas.  Acts  15:36-40 

§81.  The  churches  in  southern  Asia  Minor  revisited.  Acts  15:41 — 16:5 

§82.  The  vision  in  Troas.  Acts  16:6-10 

§83.  The  work  in  Philippi,  Acts  16:11-40 

§84.  In  Thessalonica.  Acts  17:1-9 

§85.  In  Beroea.  Acts  17:10-15 

§86.  In  Athens.  Acts  17:16-34 

§87.  In  Corinth.  Actsi8:i-i8a 

§88.  The  return  to  Antioch.  Acts  18:186-23(1 

§  80.  The  Discussion  between  Paul  and  Barnabas. — When  John 
Mark  left  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Perga  in  Pamphylia,  he  returned 
to  Jerusalem  (Acts  13:13),  but  later,  as  appears  from  Acts  15:37, 
came  to  Antioch.  What  motive  had  brought  him  thither  we  do 
not  know.  It  is  possible  that,  when  Barnabas  was  in  Jerusalem  at 
the  conference,  he  suggested  to  Mark  that  he  should  hold  himself  in 
readiness  for  another  missionary  journey.  At  any  rate,  Mark  was  in 
the  Syrian  capital  when  Barnabas  summoned  Paul  to  revisit  the 
churches  which  they  had  founded.  Barnabas  wished  to  take  Mark,  but 
Paul  refused  on  account  of  his  conduct  on  the  former  trip.  The 
contention  was  so  sharp  that  the  old  friends  and  co-laborers  separated. 
Barnabas  went  to  Cyprus,  taking  Mark;  and  Paul  chose  Silas  as  his 
companion,  one  of  the  two  delegates  from  the  Jerusalem  church  to 
the  brethren  in  Antioch.  But  this  alienation  of  Paul  and  Barnabas 
was  not  permanent,  neither  was  Paul's  feeling  of  antipathy  toward 
Mark.  In  his  letter  to  the  church  at  Colossae,  he  sent  a  salutation 
from  Mark  (Col.  4:10),  and  commended  him  by  saying  that  he  was 
a  cousin  of  Barnabas.  Thus  the  Colossians  were  assumed  to  be 
acquainted  with  Barnabas,  which  fact  in  turn  suggests  that  Barna- 
bas may  have  worked  there,  or  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
But  in  that  case  he  was  probably  on  friendly  terms  with  Paul,  for  it 
was  Paul  who  introduced  the  gospel  into  the  province  of  Asia,  in 

116 


Paul's  second  missionary  journey  117 

which  Colossas  was  located.  Again  the  manner  in  which  Paul 
refers  to  Barnabas  in  the  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  (i  Cor.  9:6)  is 
hardly  consistent  with  the  view  that  the  disagreement  over  Mark 
led  to  permanent  alienation. 

§81.  The  Churches  in  Southern  Asia  Minor  Revisited. — It  is 
to  be  noted  that  when  Paul  left  Antioch  on  what  proved  to  be  the 
second  great  missionary  tour,  there  was  no  plan  to  enter  new  fields. 
His  proposition  to  Barnabas  was  that  they  should  visit  the  brethren  in 
every  city  in  which  they  had  proclaimed  the  word  of  the  Lord.  In 
going  through  Syria  and  Cilicia  he  was  on  the  ground  where  he  had 
labored  before  he  went  to  the  help  of  Barnabas  in  Antioch  in  the 
year  44  a.  d.  (Gal.  2:21).  Then,  having  crossed  the  Taurus  Aloun- 
tains,  he  came  to  Lystra  and  Derbe,  probably  also  to  Iconium  and 
Antioch  of  Pisidia,  though  Luke  does  not  mention  these  cities  by 
name.  If  Paul  delivered  the  "decrees"  of  the  Jerusalem  confer- 
ence to  the  various  churches  which  he  visited  in  southern  Asia 
Minor,  as  Luke  reports,  two  things  are  certain:  first,  it  is  certain, 
in  view  of  what  had  happened  in  Antioch  on  the  occasion  of  Peter's 
visit,  that  he  interpreted  the  decrees  as  placing  no  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  the  Jewish  and  gentile  believers  eating  together;  and  second,  that 
he  reported  the  more  important  part  of  the  Jerusalem  conference, 
viz.,  that  the  leaders  of  the  mother-church  had  fully  recognized  his 
mission  to  the  gentiles. 

§82.  The  Vision  in  Troas. — When  Paul  had  completed  his  tour 
of  the  churches,  naturally  at  Antioch,  he  thought  of  going  right  on 
west  into  the  Roman  province  of  Asia,  whose  capital,  Ephesus, 
was  about  200  miles  distant.  But  as  he  meditated  on  this  course, 
he  became  convinced  that  it  was  not  God's  will  that  he  should  preach 
in  Asia  at  that  time.  On  what  ground  this  Conviction  was  based  we 
have  no  means  of  determining.  Then  Paul  and  his  two  fellow- 
laborers — for  he  had  taken  Timothy  from  Lystra  as  he  passed  through 
that  place  (Acts  16 : 1-3) — turned  to  the  northwest,  and  passed  through 
some  part  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia.  Luke  docs  not  indicate  that 
they  made  any  stop  in  these  regions.  If  the  view  be  correct  that  the 
churches  of  Galatia  (Gal.  1:2)  were  in  the  territory  which  was  so- 
called  because  of  its  Gallic  population,  then  it  must  have  been  on 
this  trip  that  Paul  founded  them  (Gal.  4:12-4).     It  is  somewhat 


Il8  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

surprising  thai  Luke,  if  he  had  knowledge  of  this  work,  did  not 
mention  it,  and  yet  after  all  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  his 
narrative.  For  it  is  certain  that  he  gives  us  only  fragments  and 
outlines.  He  does  not  mention  the  Arabian  sojourn  or  the  long  work 
in  Syria  and  Cilicia.  The  work  in  Galatia  may  have  occupied  but 
a  few  weeks,  and  Luke  may  have  omitted  any  reference  to  it — assum- 
ing now  that  he  knew  of  it — because  it  did  not  mark  a  forward  step 
in  the  progress  of  the  gospel  toward  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 

From  the  letter  to  the  Galatians  it  appears  that  Paul  had  not 
planned  to  preach  in  Galatia,^  but  was  led  to  do  so  by  an  infirmity 
wliich  detained  him  (Gal.  4:13),  a  statement  which  it  is  hard  to 
harmonize  with  the  view  that  the  churches  of  Galatia  were  those  of 
Antioch,  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  for  Luke's  narrative  of  the 
founding  of  these  not  only  makes  no  allusion  to  any  sickness  of  Paul, 
but  seems  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  any  serious  illness,  and  it  also 
makes  the  impression  that  the  tour  was  planned,  at  least  in  a  general 
way.  The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  informs  us  further  that  Paul  had 
bee.i  received  by  the  readers  as  an  "angel  of  God,  even  as  Christ 
Jesus,"  and  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  have  used  such 
strong  language  in  regard  to  his  reception  in  Antioch,  Iconium, 
Lystra,  and  Derbe.  But  we  will  not  pursue  the  question  further. 
Some  references  to  the  literature  of  the  subject  are  given  at  the  close 
of  the  chapter. 

According  to  Luke,  the  second  field  which  Paul  sought  to  enter 
was  Bithynia,  a  Roman  province  lying  on  the  Black  Sea.  But  again 
it  was  made  plain  to  him  that  he  was  moving  contrary  to  the  divine 
will,  and  so  he  turned  to  the  west.  As  Mysia,  into  which  he  now 
came,  was  a  part  of  the  province  of  Asia  in  which  he  had  already 
been  forbidden  to  preach,  he  passed  by  it,  that  is  to  say,  he  did  not 
stop  to  labor  there,  but  kept  on  to  Troas.  It  appears,  then,  that  at 
this  time  as  he  entered  Mysia,  if  not  before,   Paul  must  have  had 

I  At  this  period  the  term  Galatia  was  used  to  designate  either  (a)  a  district  in  the 
center  of  the  peninsula  of  Asia  Minor,  in  which  certain  tribes  of  Gallic  blood  had  long 
since  settled  and  become  the  dominant  element  of  the  population,  or  (b)  the  Roman 
province  of  Galatia,  which  included  the  district  above  named  and  much  additional 
territory  on  the  south  and  southwest  in  which  were  cities  visited  by  Paul  on  his  first 
missionary  tour.  The  question  in  which  sense  Paul  uses  the  word  Galatia  is  one  on 
which  scholars  of  repute  are  divided. 


PAULS    SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY  II 9 

Europe  in  mind,  for  he  knew  that  when  he  had  once  crossed  Mysia 
he  would  arrive  at  the  sea. 

The  vision  which  Paul  had  in  Troas  was  unlike  the  supernatural 
intimations  regarding  his  course  which  had  recently  come  to  him, 
for  those  had  been  negative  in  character  but  this  was  positive.  What 
preparation  there  had  been  for  the  vision  the  narrative  does  not 
suggest.  Paul  may  have  become  acquainted  with  a  Macedonian  in 
Troas,  possibly  with  Luke  himself, '  who  told  him  of  the  need  in  his 
country  and  of  the  wide  opportunity  for  the  gospel. 

83.  The  Work  in  Philippi. — Paul's  mind  was  thoroughly  deter- 
mined by  the  vision,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  setting  out  for  Macedonia, 
in  particular  for  its  chief  city  Philippi.  He  took  ship  to  Neapolis,  a 
distance  of  about  140  miles,  which  was  reached  the  second  day  (cf. 
Acts  20:6),  and  then  a  walk  of  ten  miles  brought  him  to  Philippi,  the 
first' Macedonian  city  as  they  went  inland  frcm  Neapolis,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Luke,  the  most  important  city  of  the  province.  It  had  been 
made  a  Roman  colony  by  Augustus,  42  b.  c. 

The  Jewish  population  in  Philippi  seems  to  have  been  small,  as 
the  narrative  does  not  mention  a  synagogue,  and  as  those  who  were 
gathered  in  the  "place  of  prayer,"^  to  whom  Paul  spoke  the  word, 
were  entirely  women. 

The  first  European  convert  was  not  a  Macedonian,  but  a  woman 
from  Thyatira  in  the  province  of  Asia.  She  appears  to  have  been  a 
person  of  some  means,  for  she  had  a  house  or  lodgings  in  which  she 
entertained  Paul  and  his  three  companions.  How  many  others 
besides  Lydia  were  led  to  faith  in  Jesus  the  narrative  does  not 
indicate.  Paul's  work  continued  for  many  days  without  interrup- 
tion, and  the  converts,  whether  many  or  few,  became  the  nucleus 
of  a  church  of  which  Paul  said  a  few  years  later  that  it  was  his  joy 
and  crown  (Phil.  4:1).  The  mission  of  Paul  was  at  length 
interrupted  by  gentiles  whose  business  was  thereby  injured. 

1  The  student  will  notice  that  with  the  tenth  verse  the  narrative  begins  to  use 
the  first  person.  Thus  we  come  here  to  the  beginning  of  the  diary  which  is  ascribed 
to  Luke. 

2  The  term  here  used,  irpoffevxr),  might  denote  a  building  for  worship  (Josephus, 
Vita,  54),  perhaps  not  different  from  a  .synagogue  (Schiirer,  The  Jeivish  People,  etc., 
Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  p.  6q),  but  here  it  probably  denotes  a  place  in  the  open  air. 


I20  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

A  certain  maid  with  a  spirit  of  divination,  who  appears'  to  have 
been  a  slave,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  have  sold  her  services,  was  much  im- 
pressed by  the  missionaries  and  testified  in  public  that  they  were 
servants  of  the  most  high  God.  She  followed  them,  apparently  to 
the  place  of  prayer,  and  continued  to  do  this  for  some  days.  We 
must  assume  that  her  motive  in  this  procedure  was  friendly,  and  we 
can  not  suppose  that  what  she  said  was  in  itself  offensive  to  Paul. 
Only  he  was  troubled  that  this  testimony  should  come  from  one  who 
was  possessed  by  a  spirit.  The  case  was  somewhat  parallel  to  that 
of  the  demoniacs  in  the  gospels  who  recognized  the  messiahship  of 
Jesus.  Paul  treated  it  in  the  same  way  that  Jesus  treated  the  de- 
moniacs, and  summoned  the  spirit  to  come  forth.  His  word  was 
effectual,  for  the  maid  ceased  from  soothsaying.  Judging  from  her 
previous  attitude  toward  Paul  and  his  message,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
suppose  that  she  became  a  disciple. 

When  the  owners  of  the  maid  were  convinced  that  she  had  lost 
her  power,  they  haled  Paul  and  Silas  before  the  magistrates  (praetors) 
on  the  double  charge  that  they  were  a  disturbing  element  in  the  city 
and  that  they  set  forth  customs  unlawful  for  a  Roman  to  observe — an 
appeal  to  the  pride  of  the  citizens  of  Philippi  in  those  rights  that  be- 
longed to  them  as  citizens  of  a  Roman  "colony,"  The  accusers  did 
not  fail  to  say  that  the  missionaries  were  Jews,  thus  appealing  to  a 
widespread  popular  hatred.  Their  reference  to  customs  unlawful 
for  Romans  was  probably  based  on  a  misunderstanding  of  what 
Paul  had  said  of  Jesus  as  messiah  and  king. 

As  a  mob  had  gathered  and  were  clamoring  against  Paul  and  Silas, 
the  magistrates,  without  waiting  for  any  examination,  commanded 
that  they  should  be  beaten  with  rods,  and  then  cast  them  into  prison. 
Perhaps  this  would  have  been  prevented  if  Paul  and  Silas  had  de- 
clared their  Roman  citizenship  (cf.  Acts  22:25),  but  for  some  reason 
they  did  not  do  this. 

The  night  spent  in  prison  was  full  of  remarkable  incidents.  The 
most  significant  of  these  for  the  history  of  Christianity  was  that  the 
missionaries  sang  hymns  of  praise  to  God  at  midnight.     The  joy  of 

'  Luke  says  that  the  spirit  in  her  was  a  "python,"  a  Greek  designation  of  a  ven- 
triloquist. She  had  also  the  gift  of  soothsaying  (ixavTevofx^vr)),  hence  was  doubly 
endowed. 


Paul's  second  missionary  journey  121 

the  new  faith,  the  joy  of  serving  Jesus  and  helping  to  build  up  his 
kingdom,  made  them  unmindful  of  their  cruel  sufferings  and  found 
expression  in  loud  hymns  of  praise.  The  occurrence  of  an  earth- 
quake in  consequence  of  which  the  prison  doors  were  opened  and 
the  bonds  loosed  which  had  been  fastened  in  the  walls,  was  regarded 
at  that  time  as  supernatural.  At  present,  while  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  Lord  delivered  them  out  of  prison,  we  may  not  think 
of  the  mode  of  deliverance  as  Luke  and  his  generation  did.  The 
dramatic  incident  of  the  jailer's  rescue  from  suicide  and  subsequent 
conversion  illustrate  both  the  quickness  of  Paul  and  the  effectiveness 
of  his  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

It  was  probably  an  expression  of  the  sober  second  thought  of 
the  magistrates  that  they  sent  in  the  morning  to  have  the  prisoners 
released.  They  knew  that  their  hasty  course  had  been  unlawful,  and 
when  the  pressure  of  the  mob  had  been  removed,  they  decided  to 
set  the  prisoners  at  liberty.  But  the  sergeants  brought  back  word 
that  the  men  were  Roman  citizens  and  that  they  insisted  on  being 
released  by  the  magistrates  in  person.  This  was  accordingly  done, 
and  the  magistrates  asked  them  to  go  away  from  the  city.  After  a 
farewell  meeting  with  the  brethren  in  the  house  of  Lydia  they 
complied  with  this  request. 

Thus  the  work  in  the  first  European  field,  which  had  begun 
quietly  in  a  little  company  of  devout  women,  ended  with  violence 
and  suffering,  as  had  been  the  case  in  three  out  of  the  four  Asiatic 
cities  in  which  Paul  had  labored  on  his  first  missionary  journey. 

§84.  In  Thessalonica. — The  narrative  of  Paul's  movements  as 
he  left  Philippi  is  continued  in  the  third  person,  and  therefore  it  may 
be  held  that  the  one  who  had  joined  him  in  Troas,  who  was  the  author 
of  the  "we-passages,"'  remained  in  Philippi.  Perhaps  this  was  his 
home. 

From  Philippi  the  missionaries  followed  the  Egnatian  road  a 
distance  of  33  miles  to  Amphipolis,  the  capital  of  one  of  the  four  parts 
into  which  the  Romans  divided  Macedonia.  This  was  southwest  of 
Philippi  on  the  Strymon  River  about  three  miles  from  the  ^gean 
Sea.     A  two  days'  walk  from  Amphipolis  westward  along  the  same 

I  A  name  applied  to  those  parts  of  Acts  in  which  the  narrative  is  told  in  the  first 
person. 


PAULS    SECOND    MISSIONARY   JOURNEY  1 23 

great  Roman  highway  brought .  them  to  Thcssalonica.  Why  they 
passed  through  the  centrally  located  and  important  city  of  Amphi- 
polis  and  the  town  of  Apollonia  without  preaching  the  gospel  we  are 
not  told.  It  is  possible  that  there  was  no  Jewish  colony  in  either  city, 
and  Paul,  though  he  was  the  apostle  of  the  gentiles,  made  it  his  rule 
to  work  outward  from  the  synagogue  through  the  proselytes. 

Thcssalonica,  situated  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Thermaic 
Gulf,  was  at  first  the  capital  of  the  second  division  of  Macedonia, 
and  since  the  year  44  A.  d.  had  been  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
entire  province.  It  bore  the  title  of  metropolis,  and  was  independent 
in  its  administration.  Here  there  was  a  Jewish  synagogue,  a  con- 
siderable Jewish  population,  and  many  proselytes  from  the  better 
class  of  citizens.  Hence  it  offered  to  the  missionaries  a  favorable 
opening  for  their  work.  Luke  says  that  they  continued  three  weeks 
in  the  synagogue;  and  if  we  had  no  other  references  to  the  visit  we 
should  conclude  that  the  riot  which  occasioned  their  departure  came 
at  the  end  of  these  three  weeks.  There  are,  however,  certain  facts 
that  indicate  a  stay  in  Thcssalonica  of  considerably  more  than  three 
weeks.  Thus  we  learn  that  Paul  was  there  long  enough  for  his  con- 
dition to  be  reported  in  Philippi  and  for  aid  to  be  sent  from  that 
church  on  two  separate  occasions  (Phil.  4:16).  Again,  in  his  first 
letter  to  the  Thessalonians,  he  spoke  of  having  worked  day  and  night 
while  among  them,  that  is,  worked  for  his  own  support  that  he  might 
not  burden  them.  But  if  he  twice  received  aid  from  Phihppi,  it 
seems  hardly  probable  that  it  would  have  been  necessary  for  him  to 
labor  day  and  night  unless  he  stayed  more  than  three  weeks  in  the 
place. 

The  result  of  Paul's  labors  in  Thcssalonica  was,  according  to  Acts, 
the  conversion  of  some  Jews  and  a  "great  multitude"  of  devout 
Greeks.  The  overwhelming  predominance  of  the  gentile  element 
may  have  made  it  natural  that,  in  his  letters  to  the  Thessalonians, 
Paul  should  address  them  as  former  gentiles,  making  no  special 
reference  to  a  Jewish  element  (i  Thess.  i :  9). 

It  is  not  necessary  to  see  any  serious  divergence  between  Acts  and  the  first 
Thessalonian  letter  in  regard  to  the  persecution  which  the  missionaries  suffered 
in  Thcssalonica.  The  letter  does  not  allude  to  the  Jews  as  having  had  part  in 
this  persecution,  while  according  ta  Acts  they  were  ring-leaders.     This  latter 


124 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


Statement  appears  altogether  probable  from  what  we  know  concerning  the  a^+ti- 
tude  of  the  Jews  toward  Paul  elsewhere.  At  the  same  time,  Luke's  account  allows 
us  to  think  that  the  great  majority  of  those  who  assaulted  the  house  of  Jason  were 
Greeks,  and  therefore  it  is  not  at  variance  with  the  letter. 

At  the  time  of  the  a.ssault  on  the  house  of  Jason,  who,  to  judge 
from  his   name,   was  a   Macedonian,   Paul  and  his  fellow-laborers 


THE   SO-CALLED    "ARCH    OF    CON.STANTINE"   IN   THESSALONICA 
(Erected  in  the  First  or  Second  Century  a.  d.,  torn  down  in  1876) 


were  his  guests,  though  fortunately  not  in  the  house.  Therefore 
Jason  and  certain  other  disciples  were  taken  before  the  rulers,  and 
were  obliged  to  give  "security,"  that  is,  put  down  a  money  deposit 
as  a  pledge  that  the  missionaries  would  cause  no  further  disturbance. 
Possibly  they  promised  the  rulers  that  Paul  should  depart  from  the 
city.     At  any  rate  that  is  what  Paul  immediately  did  in  company 


PAUL  S    SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY 


125 


with  Silas.     Timothy  remained  for  a  time,  and  then  followed  Paul 
to  Beroea  (x\cts  17:14). 

Though  Paul's  work  in  Thessalonica  was  broken  off  by  persecu- 
tion, he  had  been  the  means  of  creating  a  vigorous  Christian  com- 
munity, which  soon  became  an  example  to  all  believers  in  Macedonia 
and  Achaia  (  iThess.  1:7,  8;  4:10).  Two  members  of  this  church 
accompanied  Paul  on  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and  of  these  one 


INSCRIPTION   ON  THE  INSIDE   OF   THE   "ARCH   OF   CONSTANTINE" 

Containing  the  names  of  the  six  rulers,  "PoHtarchs,"  of  Thessalonica 

took  the  long  voyage  with  the  apostle  when  he  was  sent  a  prisoner  to 
Rome  (Acts  20:4,  27:2). 

§85.  In  Beroea.— The  third  and  last  Macedonian  town  which 
Paul  visited  was  Bercea,  about  47  miles  from  Thessalonica  by  the 
shortest  route,  and  20  miles  from  the  sea.  There  was  a  synagogue 
in  the  city,  and  its  members  received  Paul's  message  with  all  readi- 
ness of  mind.  Many  believed,  and  those  who  did  not  kept  silence, 
allowing  the  missionaries  to  continue  their  work.  Some  of  the  lead- 
ing Greeks  of  the  city  accepted  the  gospel.  The  work  was  finally 
interrupted  by  Jews  from  Thessalonica,  who,  having  come  to  Beroea, 
stirred  up  the  multitudes,  probably  by  such  political  charges  as  had 


126  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE 

been  effectual  in  their  own  city.  There  is  no  indication  that  any  of 
the  Jews  of  Beroea  joined  them.  Before  the  opposition  had  resulted 
in  violence,  Paul  left  the  city.     Silas  and  Timothy  remained. 

The  length  of  Paul's  sojourn  in  Beroea  can  only  be  conjectured. 
As  it  was  long  enough  for  his  work  to  be  reported  in  Thessalonica 
and  for  Jews  to  come  thence  to  Beroea  and  to  work  up  an  opposition 
to  the  missionaries  among  the  multitudes,  it  can  hardly  have  been 
less  than  two  weeks,  and  may  have  been  twice  that  time.  Of  the 
church  which  Paul  established  in  Beroea  we  have  no  further  knowl- 
edge from  New  Testament  sources  than  that  one  of  the  men  who 
went  with  Paul  to  Jerusalem  to  take  the  contribution  of  the  churches 
was  a  Beroean  by  the  name  of  Sopater  (Acts  20:4). 

With  his  departure  from  Beroea  Paul's  work  in  Macedonia  ended. 
He  had  preached  and  gathered  a  circle  of  believers  in  three  cities,  and 
had  been  driven  from  each  by  persecution.  The  gospel  seems  to 
have  been  carried  out  from  these  centers  with  great  rapidity  and 
success.  As  early  as  Paul's  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  he  spoke  of 
brethren  in  all  Macedonia  (i  Thess.  4:10),  and  said  that  the  word 
of  the  Lord  had  sounded  forth  through  Macedonia  and  Achaia. 

§  86.  In  Athens. — If  Paul  made  bitter  enemies,  he  also  made 
devoted  friends.  When  his  short  stay  in  Beroea  came  to  an  abrupt 
end,  there  were  some  of  his  converts  who  accompanied  him  to  the 
sea-coast,  perhaps  at  Dium  in  the  extreme  southeast  of  Macedonia, 
and  thence  by  water  to  Athens,  a  distance  of  about  200  miles. 

We  have  but  a  single  allusion  from  Paul  himself  to  a  visit  in 
Athens.  He  says  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  that  he  had 
sent  Timothy  back  from  Athens  to  Thessalonica  to  establish  and 
comfort  the  church  (i  Thess.  3:1,  2).  When  Timothy  returned  to 
him  from  this  mission,  he  was  already  at  work  in  Corinth.  He 
himself  says  nothing  of  any  activity  in  Athens. 

According  to  the  narrative  in  Acts,  when  Paul  reached  Athens  he 
sent  back  word  to  Beroea  that  Silas  and  Timothy  should  come  to  him 
with  all  speed  (Acts  17:15),  but  no  reason  is  there  suggested  for  this 
step.  Light  is  thrown  upon  it,  however,  by  the  first  letter  to  the 
Thessalonians,  for  we  learn  from  this  of  Paul's  earnest  desire  to 
return  to  Thessalonica  (i  Thess.  2:18;  3:11),  and  also  that  he  sent 
Timothv  from  Athens  to  Thessalonica.     It  is  natural  then  to  con- 


128  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

elude  that  he  summoned  Timothy  and  Silas  from  Benca  beeause  he 
wished  to  send  a  message  to  Thessalonica.  Possibly,  indeed  probably, 
he  sent  Silas  to  Philippi  when  he  sent  Timothy  to  Thessalonica. 
For  (a)  he  would  probably  have  the  same  reasons  for  desiring  news 
from  Philippi  as  from  Thessalonica;  and  (b)  from  2  Cor.  11:8  com- 
pared with  Phil.  4:15  we  learn  that  the  Philippians  probably  sent 
him  money  while  he  was  in  Corinth,  when  the  "brethren"  came 
from  Macedonia.  Now  since  we  know  that  Silas  was  with  Paul 
when  he  wrote  i  Thess.  (i  Thess.  1:1)  and  that  Timothy  had  just 
arrived  from  Macedonia  (i  Thess.  3:6),  it  is  highly  probable  that 
with  Timothy  had  come  also  Silas — this,  indeed.  Acts  18:5  says — 
the  former  from  Thessalonica,  the  latter  from  Philippi. 

Luke's  narrative,  no  less  than  the  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians, 
makes  the  impression  that  Paul's  stay  in  Athens  was  short.  It  was 
an  interval  in  which  he  "  waited  "  for  Silas  and  Timothy  (Acts  17:16), 
and  his  preaching  was  due  to  an  external  cause,  viz.,  the  idolatry  of 
the  city,  rather  than  to  a  plan  of  his  own.  There  was  a  synagogue 
in  Athens,  and  in  this  Paul  reasoned  with  Jews  and  proselytes.  We 
are  not  told  whether  this  activity  bore  any  fruit.  He  also  spoke  in 
the  market-place  to  the  gentiles,  where  he  was  singularly  misunder- 
stood and  won  but  few  converts  (vs.  34).  He  was  not  regarded  as 
a  philosopher  with  an  independent  message,  but  rather  as  one  who 
had  borrowed  his  wisdom  from  others.  He  spoke  of  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,  and  the  hearers  thought  these  were  two  new  demons 
whose  worship  Paul  would  introduce.  As  anything  new  interested 
the  Athenians  for  a  little  time,  the  notion  that  Paul  was  acquainted 
with  new  demons  occasioned  the  Areopagus  address.  What  is  meant 
by  "Areopagus,"  whether  the  Hill  of  Mars  itself  or  a  council  which 
had  its  name  from  that  hill,  because  it  had  originally  met  there,  is 
disputed.  But  however  that  word  is  taken,  it  is  plain  that  the  hearing 
of  Paul  was  not  a  judicial  trial.  He  was  thought  to  be  a  setter-forth 
of  strange  demons;  but,  in  a  city  where  there  was  the  greatest  liberal- 
ity toward  all  cults,  this  could  not  have  been  regarded  as  a  ground 
for  procedure  against  him.  There  is  also  no  suggestion  in  our  nar- 
rative of  a  formal  trial.  No  charge  was  brought,  no  defense  made, 
and  when  Paul  was  interrupted  in  his  address  he  .went  forth 
unhindered. 


Paul's  second  missionary  journey 


129 


The  x\reopagus  address  is  marked  by  the  same  liberality  of  thought 
in  regard  to  the  gentiles  that  we  have  in  the  Lycaonian  address  (Acts 
14: 15-17),  and  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  (2  :  12-16).  Paul  admits 
that  the  Athenians  worship  God,  but  declares  that  their  worship  is 
in  ignorance.  He  says  that  all  nations  have  one  origin  and  one 
destiny,  and  recognizes  that  Greek  poets  teach  some  truth  about 
God   and   man.     The   call  to    repentance   in  view  of  approaching 


THE  AREOPAGUS 


judgment,  this  judgment  to  be  through  Jesus,  may  not  be  as  character- 
istic of  Paul  as  is  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith;  but  the  situa- 
tion may  account  for  the  emphasis  which  he  appears  to  have  laid  on 
the  former  thought  and  for  his  entire  omission  of  the  latter.  The 
address  is  said  to  contain  no  message  of  salvation  through  Christ, 
which  is  true;  but  this  fact  is  hardly  to  be  considered  as  valid  evi- 
dence against  its  genuineness.  What  it  does  contain  is  Pauline,  and 
that  is  of  more  weight  than  the  argument  from  silence. 


130  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

§  87.  In  Corinth. — When  Paul  set  out  from  Macedonia  on  the 
long  sea- voyage  to  the  south,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  had  Corinth 
prominently  in  view.  This  v^as  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Achaia, 
a  Roman  colony  founded  by  Julius  Caesar,  upon  nearly  the  site  of  the 
older  Corinth  destroyed  just  a  century  before,  a  large  city  which, 
because  of  its  central  location  between  the  East  and  the  West,  had  a 
far-reaching  influence. 

It  appears  from  the  first  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  (i  Thess.  3:11), 
written  from  Corinth,  as  was  also  2  Thess.,  that  Paul  did  not  expect 
to  remain  long  in  Corinth  at  that  time;  but  in  the  ordering  of 
Providence  it  came  about  that  he  labored  there  longer  than  in  any 
other  city  except  Ephesus.  At  the  outset  of  his  stay  in  Corinth  he 
formed  one  of  the  most  fruitful  friendships  of  his  life,  that  with  Aquila, 
a  Pontian  Jew,  and  with  his  wife  Priscilla.  With  them  he  made  his 
home,  and  possibly  was  in  their  employ.  In  any  case  it  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  Aquila,  as  he  was  acquainted  with  the  city,  took  the 
product  of  Paul's  work  and  disposed  of  it  with  his  own.  Both  earned 
their  living  by  weaving  cloth  from  goats'  hair. 

At  first  Paul's  preaching  in  Corinth  was  somewhat  lacking  in 
power  because  of  his  solicitude  for  his  Thessalonian  converts,  but 
when  Timothy  brought  a  good  report  from  this  church  (Acts  18:5; 
I  Thess.  3:6),  he  was  able  to  throw  himself  wholly  into  his  work.  A 
speedy  result  of  this  greater  earnestness  on  his  part  was  such  an  oppo- 
sition of  the  Jews  that  he  was  forced  out  of  the  synagogue.  After 
this  he  preached  in  the  house  of  Titus  Justus,  a  proselyte  and  prob- 
ably a  Christian  as  well.  Here  he  continued  his  work  for  some- 
what more  than  a  year  and  a  half.  The  number  of  converts  among 
the  Jews  appears  not  to  have  been  large,  but  it  included  at  least  one 
prominent  man,  Crispus,  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue.  But  of  the 
Greeks  many  were  won  to  the  new  faith.  This  is  not  only  affirmed 
by  Luke,  but  it  is  also  implied  in  the  letters  to  the  Corinthians,  which 
were  written  four  or  five  years  after  the  church  was  founded  (e.  g., 
I  Cor.  1:12;   12:1-11;   16:3). 

It  appears  from  i  Cor.  1:26,  28  that  the  Greek  converts  were 
chiefly  from  the  lower  class.  Erastus,  who  was  treasurer  of  the  city 
(Rom  16:23),  Gaius  who  entertained  Paul  and  the  whole  church 
(Rom.  16:23),  3-^^  Chloe  and  Stephanas  were  exceptions  to  this  rule. 


132  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

Paul  tells  us  that  while  he  was  in  Corinth  he  was  unusually  of)- 
pressed  with  a  sense  of  weakness  and  fear  (i  Cor.  2:3),  with  which 
agrees  the  statement  in  Acts  that  the  Lord  spoke  to  Paul  in  a  vision 
and  encouraged  him  (Acts  18:9,  10).  This  state  of  mind  may  have 
been  due  to  the  almost  hopeless  moral  condition  of  Corinth  and  to 
the  recent  discouraging  experiences  in  Athens.  It  is  perhaps  also 
significant  that  Paul  speaks  of  this  weakness  in  connection  with  his 
resolution  to  speak  the  gospel  in  simple  words,  without  any  of  the 
arts  of  wisdom  and  eloquence  which  the  Greeks  loved.  He  knew 
that  his  message  would  be  foolishness  to  most  of  his  hearers  (i  Cor. 
1:23). 

That  Paul  was  not  driven  from  Corinth  by  Jewish  persecution 
was  due  not  to  any  lack  of  the  persecuting  spirit,  but  to  the  temper 
of  the  proconsul.  When  his  enemies  brought  him  before  the  judg- 
ment seat,  and  charged  that  he  persuaded  men  to  worship  contrary 
to  the  law,  Gallio  the  judge,  a  brother  of  the  Stoic  philosopher  Seneca, 
refused  to  entertain  the  charge.  Since  all  modes  of  worship  were 
lawful,  he  concluded  that  their  accusation  had  force  only  from  the 
standpoint  of  their  own  Jewish  law.  As  the  Jews  were  driven  away 
from  the  judgment  seat,  Sosthenes  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  was 
beaten  without  protest  from  Gallio,  though  the  proceeding  was 
obviously  riotous  and  unlawful.' 

Why  Paul  at  length  departed  from  Corinth  our  sources  do  not 
say.  In  Cenchreae,  the  eastern  harbor  of  Corinth,  about  eight  miles 
from  the  city,  Paul,  when  about  to  take  ship,  had  his  hair  cut  short 
in  token  of  the  fulfilment  of  some  vow.  What  this  was  we  do  not 
know,  possibly  a  vow  made  in  the  early  days  of  the  Corinthian  work 
when  Paul  had  felt  himself  weak  and  oppressed  with  fear. 

§  88.  The  Return  to  Antioch. — When  Paul  sailed  from  Cen- 
chreae, his  destination  was  Syria,  and  in  particular,  without  doubt, 
the  city  of  Antioch,  but  his  ship  touched  at  Ephesus,  probably  for  a 
very  short  time,  and  he  became  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  syna- 
gogue there.  He  was  asked  to  remain,  but  did  not  consent,  though 
he  promised  to  come  back  if  the  Lord  was  willing. 

I  This  attack  on  Sosthenes  must  have  been  made  by  the  Greeks,  as  there  is  no 
motive  apparent  why  the  Jews  should  have  fallen  upon  their  own  leader  at  this  time.  The 
popular  gentile  hatred  of  the  Jews  is  sufficient  explanation  of  the  unprovoked  assault. 


Paul's  second  missionary  journey 


^33 


According  to  Acts  18:22  Paul  sailed  from  Ephesus  to  Caesarea,  whence  he 
went  up  and  saluted  the  church,  and  then  at  length  returned  to  Antioch.  But 
there  are  serious  difficulties  involved  in  this  verse.  It  seems  altogether  improb- 
able, in  the  first  place,  that  Luke  would  have  referred  to  a  visit  of  Paul  to  Jeru- 
salem in  the  indefinite  words,  "he  went  up  and  saluted  the  church;"  Jerusalem 
is  not  even  named,  nor  any  motive  for  the  visit  suggested.  Again,  when  Paul 
went  to  Jerusalem  with  the  contribution  three  years  later,  he  went  in  great  trepi- 
dation, being  in  doubt  whether  he  should  be  delivered  from  the  disobedient  in 
Judea.     But  if  he  went  in  fear  at  that  time,  though  having  a  large  offering  for  the 


RUINS  OF  TEMPLE  AT   CORINTH 
(Seen  also  in  previous  picture) 

church,  it  is  singular  that  he  should  have  gone  quietly  on  his  return  from  Corinth, 
empty-handed  and  without  any  special  motive.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt 
that  he  went  to  Antioch  and  told  of  his  work  in  the  west. 

He  had  been  absent,  on  a  conservative  estimate,  two  and  a  half 
years.  He  had  traveled  some  2,500  miles,  and  had  established  the 
gospel  in  the  two  important  provinces  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia.  He 
might  well  believe  that  the  story  of  this  work  would  be  blessed  of  God 
to  the  upbuilding  of  the  church  in  Antioch. 


§89.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Where  had 
Mark  gone  when  he  left  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Perga  ?  (2)  What 
may  have  brought  him  to  Antioch  ?     (3)  Why  was  Paul  opposed  to 


134  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

taking  him  again  ?  (4)  What  evidence  is  there  that  the  dissension 
between  Paul  and  Barnabas  did  not  lead  to  permanent  alienation  ? 
(5)  With  what  plan  did  Paul  leave  Antioch  at  this  time?  Whom 
did  he  take  with  him?  (6)  Whither  did  Barnabas  go?  (7)  What 
new  field  did  Paul  first  think  of  entering  after  he  had  visited  his 
churches  ?  (8)  What  direction  did  he  finally  take  ?  (9)  What 
churches  may  he  have  established  at  this  time  ? 

(10)  What  was  the  second  new  field  which  Paul  sought  to  enter? 
(11)  Whither  did  he  then  go?  (12)  What  may  have  prepared  the 
way  for  the  vision  in  Troas  ?  (13)  Describe  the  journey  from  Troas 
to  Philippi.  (14)  Describe  Philippi,  (15)  Where  did  Paul  preach 
and  to  whom  ?  Who  was  the  first  convert  ?  (16)  How  was  the  work 
of  Paul  finally  broken  off?  (17)  On  what  charges  were  Paul  and 
Silas  brought  before  the  magistrates?  (18)  Describe  the  events  of 
the  night  spent  in  prison,  (19)  What  use  did  Paul  and  Silas  make  of 
their  Roman  citizenship  ? 

(20)  Describe  the  journey  from  Philippi  to  Thessalonica.  (21) 
Why  may  the  missionaries  have  passed  through  Amphipolis  and 
Apollonia  without  preaching  ?  (22)  Describe  the  location  of  Thessa- 
lonica. (23)  H(^w  long  did  Paul  labor  there  ?  (24)  What  circum- 
stances led  to  his  departure?  (25)  Of  what  element  was  the  church 
in  Thessalonica  chiefly  composed  ?  (26)  Describe  Paul's  work  in 
Thessalonica  as  he  himself  characterizes  it  in  i  Thess.  chap.  2. 

(27)  Locate  Beroea  and  tell  how  Paul  was  received  there.  (28) 
How  long  did  he  labor  in  Beroea  ?  (29)  How  was  he  driven  away  ? 
(30)  Give  a  brief  summary  of  Paul's  work  in  Macedonia. 

(31)  Describe  the  journey  from  Beroea  to  Athens.  (32)  Why  did 
Paul  summon  Timothy  to  come  from  Bercea  ?  (33)  How  long  did 
Paul  remain  in  Athens?  (34)  What  led  to  his  activity  there?  (35) 
How  was  he  regarded  by  the  Athenians  ?  (36)  Describe  the  Areop- 
agus address.  Where  was  it  delivered?  (37)  What  was  the  result 
of  the  work  in  Athens  ?  (38)  Locate  Corinth.  (39)  How  long  did 
Paul  labor  there  ?  (40)  What  important  friendship  did  he  form  at 
the  beginning  of  his  stay  ?  (41)  What'was  the  character  of  Paul's 
first  work  in  Corinth,  and  what  brought  about  a  change?  (42) 
What  two  letters  still  extant  did  Paul  write  while  he  was  in  Corinth  ? 
What  do  these  letters  show  as  to  Paul's  state  of  mind  while  in  Corinth  ? 


PAUL  S    SECOND    MISSIONARY   JOURNEY  1 35 

(43)  What  attempt  did  the  Jews  make  to  drive  Paul  away  from  Cor- 
inth and  why  did  it  fail  ?  (44)  What  was  Cenchrea?  and  what  did 
Paul  do  there  before  sailing  for  Syria  ? 

(45)  Describe  the  course  of  Paul's  return  trip  to  Antioch.  (46) 
What  are  the  reasons  for  thinking  that  he  did  not  go  to  Jerusalem  ? 
(47)  Give  a  brief  summary  of  the  second  missionary  journey. 

§  90.  Supplemental  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  Paul's  second  missionary  journey.  This 
may  describe,  first,  his  companions;  second,  the  geography  of  the 
tour;  third,  its  trials;  and  finally,  its  results. 

2.  On  the  great  Roman  road,  via  Egnatiana  see: 
Smith's  Classical  Dictionary. 

3.  On  the  historical  character  of  Luke's  narrative  of  the  work  in 
Athens  see: 

McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  526-62. 

4.  On  Paul's  vow  in  Cenchreae  see: 
Knowling  in  The  Expositor's  Greek  Testament,  Vol.  II. 

5.  On  the  location  of  the  "churches  of  Galatia"  read: 
Lightfoot,    Commentary    on     Galatians;    Chase,    Expositor,    Vol.     XIII; 

Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  270  ff.;  Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  Historical  Commentary  on  Galatians. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    LIFE    OF    A    MACEDONIAN    CHURCH    AS    REFLECTED    IN 
PAUL'S   LETTERS  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§  91.  Paul's  own  story  of  his  work  in  Thessalonica. 

§  92.  Organization  of  the  Thessalonian  church. 

§  93.  Conspicuous  doctrinal  feature. 

§  94.  Practical  Christian  life  of  the  Thessalonians. 

§  91.  Paul's  Own  Story  of  His  Work  in  Thessalonica. — From  the 
allusions  which  Paul  makes  to  his  work  in  Thessalonica  in  his  two 
letters  to  the  Thessalonians  we  can  form  a  somewhat  vivid  picture 
of  his  manner  of  life  and  of  preaching  while  there.  Probably  the  first 
thing  to  which  he  attended  on  reaching  the  city,  after  he  had  found  a 
lodging,  was  some  means  of  self-support.  There  was  no  missionary 
society  behind  him  to  look  out  for  his  expenses.  He  might  have 
asked  support  from  those  to  whom  he  preached,  but  he  chose  to  be 
independent,  even  though  that  obliged  him  to  work  nights  (i  Thess. 
2:9;  2  Thess.  3:8).  It  is  probable  that  he  did  some  evangelistic 
work  every  day,  telling  his  story  as  he  could  find  opportunity  and 
laboring  here  and  there  with  individuals  who  had  accepted  his  mes- 
sage (i  Thess.  4:11);  but  it  is  also  probable  that  the  work  by  which 
he  supported  himself  was  not  all  done  in  the  night.  It  is  plain,  how- 
ever, that  he  had  a  hard  struggle  to  earn  his  daily  bread,  pay  for  his 
lodging,  and  do  all  that  his  heart  moved  him  to  do  in  making  known 
the  Christian  faith.  We  do  not  know  certainly  what  kind  of  work 
Paul  did  in  Thessalonica.  We  know  what  his  special  trade  was  (see 
Acts  18:3),  but  whether  there  was  opportunity  to  follow  it  in  Thessa- 
lonica one  can  not  say.  He  may  have  had  to  turn  his  hand  to  some 
other  kind  of  labor. 

It  is  possible  to  learn  from  the  Thessalonian  letters  some  of  the 
special  topics  on  which  Paul  spoke  while  in  Thessalonica.  Of  course, 
in  general,  the  message  which  he  brought  was  the  gospel,  his  gospel 
(i  Thess.   1:4),   the  gospel  of  God  (i  Thess.  2:2,  8),  or  of  Christ 

136 


LIFE    OF    A    MACEDONIAN    CHURCH  I37 

(i  Thess.  3:2),  but  we  can  also  notice  some  of  the  points  on  which 
he  dwelt  with  particular  emphasis.  Thus,  e.  g.,  he  had  taught  the 
Thessalonians  that  the  end  of  the  gospel  message  was,  v/ith  reference 
to  God,  twofold,  viz.,  that  they  should  have  faith  in  him  (i  Thess. 
1:8),  and  that  they  should  walk  worthily  of  him  (i  Thess.  2:12). 
He  had  told  them  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Jesus  (e.  g., 
I  Thess.  1:6;  2:15;  4:14),  his  resurrection  from  the  dead  (i  Thess. 
4:14;  5:10),  his  coming  and  the  glory  which  he  would  then  bestow 
upon  his  followers  (i  Thess.  1:10;  2  Thess.  2:14).  He  had  told 
them  in  detail  what  kind  of  outward  life  is  pleasing  to  God,  dwelling 
01  purity  and  industry  (i  Thess.  4:1,  3;  2  Thess.  3:10). 

We  have  said  that  the  time  spent  in  Thessalonica  was  a  time  of 
struggle  for  Paul.  It  was  also  a  time  of  quick  and  remarkable 
response  to  his  message,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  course  of  the  present 
chapter.  A  deep  attachment  sprang  up  between  him  and  the  Thessa- 
lonian  believers,  and  when  he  had  gone  away  and  thought  of  them 
at  a  distance,  they  stood  before  his  inner  eye  as  his  glory  and  joy 
(i  Thess.  2:20). 

§  92.  Organization  of  the  Thessalonian  Church. — The  apostle  addressed 
the  Thessalonian  believers  as  a  "church"  (i  Thess.  1:1;  2  Thess.  1:1),  he  also 
compared  them  with  the  churches  in  Judea  (i  Thess.  2:14),  and  yet  it  seems 
plain  that  they  had  no  formal  organization.  Paul  knew  of  certain  persons  in 
Thessalonica  who  were  conspicuous  for  their  labors  in  behalf  of  the  church,  and 
he  recognized  these  as  being  in  a  sense  over  the  rest  (i  Thess.  5: 12).  He  asked 
that  these  persons  might  be  esteemed  highly  for  their  works'  sake.  But  there  is 
no  suggestion  of  any  claim  which  they  might  have  made  by  virtue  of  an  office  with 
which  the  church  had  clothed  them.  Moreover,  all  the  brethren  of  the  church 
are  exhorted  to  admonish  the  disorderly,  even  as  those  who  are  said  to  be  over 
the  church  admonish  them;  and  in  other  respects  also,  all  members  are  exhorted 
to  do  pastoral  work,  and  it  is  assumed  that  they  are  actually  doing  it  (i  Thess. 
5:11).  This  fact  indicates  that  those  who  were  over  the  church  were  not  officers 
formally  chosen  by  the  brotherhood  or  by  Paul,  but  rather  those  who,  by  their 
leadership  in  service,  had  gained  a  certain  pre-eminence  and  certain  moral  right 
to  leadership  in  government  and  worship. 

Thus  at  the  time  when  the  letters  to  the  Thessalonians  were  written,  we  see 
"a  church  without  a  bishop,"  and,  indeed,  without  any  formal  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization. There  were  a  number  of  persons  who  were  beginning  to  constitute  what 
Dobschiitz  calls  an  "educational  staff"  (cf.  Christian  Life  in  the  Primitive 
Church,  p.  88),  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  from  their  number  bishops 
were  duly  chosen  in  the  near  future;  but  there  was  vigorous   life — that  is  the 


138  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

point  to  be  noticed — while  as  yet  the  Christians  were  an  outwardly  unorganized 
body. 

§  93.  Conspicuous  Doctrinal  Feature. — The  thought  and  life  of  the  Thessa- 
lonian  church,  at  the  time  when  Paul  wrote  his  letters  to  them,  were  largely  colored 
by  the  doctrine  of  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  Other  doctrines  were  not  ignored, 
esjX'cially  the  teaching  of  the  apostle  in  regard  to  patience  and  brotherly  love 
and  purity;  but  of  doctrines  not  directly  concerned  with  ethics  no  one  had  an 
influence  at  all  comparable  with  that  of  the  parousia,  or  second  coming  of  the 
Lord. 

How  near  this  coming  was  thought  to  be,  and  how  essential  even  to  the  be- 
liever's continued  existence,  is  seen  from  the  impression  created  by  the  death  of 
some  members  of  the  Thessalonian  church.  This  event  had  caused  great  sorrow. 
Evidently  it  had  been  hoped  and  believed  that  the  Lord  would  come  before  any 
one  of  their  number  died.  And  it  is  plain  from  the  words  of  Paul  that  the  Thes- 
salonian believers  seriously  doubted  whether  their  dead  members  would  share 
in  the  heavenly  kingdom  at  all  (i  Thess.  4:13 — 5:11).  It  is  obvious  from  this 
that  Paul  had  presented  the  second  coming  of  Christ  simply  with  relation  to  the 
living.  He  had  not  considered  the  possibility  that  any  would  die  before  the  day 
of  the  Lord's  return.  In  other  words,  he  had  not  treated  the  doctrine  in  a  sys- 
tematic and  exhaustive  manner,  but  only  in  its  practical  bearing  upon  those 
who  heard  him  speak.  He  had  probably  used  it  chiefly  as  a  motive  to  godly 
living  (cf.  I  Thess.  3:13;    2  Thess.  2:14). 

It  may  be  supposed  that  what  Paul  said  in  his  first  letter  with  regard  to  those 
believers  who  had  died  comforted  the  church.  He  did  not  refer  to  the  point  in 
his  second  letter.  But  on  the  subject  of  the  nearness  of  the  day  of  the  Lord's 
coming  his  first  letter  only  reiterated  the  general  teaching  which  he  had  given 
them  in  person.  It  said  that  the  day  was  near  (i  Thess.  1:10;  4:15),  that  it 
would  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night  (i  Thess.  5:2),  and  that  they  should  therefore 
watch  and  be  sober  (i  Thess.  5:6). 

Now  this  doctrine  of  the  nearness  of  the  Lord's  coming,  entirely  apart  from 
its  relation  to  those  who  had  died,  was  already  exciting  and  confusing  the  church 
when  the  first  letter  was  written.  Some  f)ersons  were  neglecting  their  business, 
and  thereby  becoming  dependent  on  others,  for  the  Thessalonian  Christians  were 
very  poor  (2  Cor.  8:2).  This  idleness  made  a  bad  impression,  Paul  thought, 
on  those  outside  the  church.  It  did  not  commend  the  gospel.  Some  report  of 
the  harmful  influence  of  the  doctrine  reached  the  apostle,  and  occasioned  the 
second  letter  to  the  Thessalonians.  In  this  he  besought  them  not  to  be 
troubled  by  the  thought  that  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  was  immediately  at 
hand,  for  it  was  not.  He  then  told  of  certain  things  which  must  precede,  and 
said  that  he  had  already  given  them  this  information  while  he  was  with  them 
(2  Thess.  2:5).  They  were  not  to  stop  their  ordinary  work,  and  give  themselves 
up  to  religious  excitement  (2  Thess.  3: 12).  .\ny  who  did  this  were  to  be  avoided 
by  the  rest  (2  Thess.  3:6,  14). 


LIFE    OF   A    MACEDONIAN    CHURCH  1 39 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  life  of  the  Thessalonian  Christians,  or  of  many  among 
them,  was  disturbed  and  injured  by  their  understanding  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord's  second  coming.  But  Paul  did  not  make  any  essential  change  in  his  teach- 
ing. He  only  sought  to  enlighten  the  ignorance  of  the  Thessalonians  in  regard 
to  their  dead  friends,  and  to  emphasize  what  he  had  said  personally  concerning 
the  signs  which  were  to  precede  the  Lord's  coming. 

§  94.  Practical  Christian  Life  of  the  Thessalonians. — By  the  side 
of  the  unfortunate  doctrinal  excitement  on  the  part  of  some  members 
of  the  church  in  Thessalonica  there  was  also,  in  the  earhest  days,  that 
is,  before  and  at  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the  letters  of  Paul  to 
the  church,  an  extraordinary  manifestation  of  the  Christian  spirit.  In 
the  glow  of  his  generous  affection  for  his  converts,  the  language  of 
Paul  regarding  their  estate  was  doubtless  somewhat  exaggerated, 
but  nevertheless  the  facts  must  have  been  remarkable. 

When  he  wrote  his  first  letter,  from  two  to  six  months  after  his 
work  in  Thessalonica,  he  said  that  the  faith  of  the  Thessalonian 
Christians  had  become  known  throughout  Macedonia  and  Achaia  (i 
Thess.  1:8);  and  when  he  wrote  the  second  letter  he  had  received 
such  evidence  of  Christian  life  from  Thessalonica  that  he  spoke  of 
the  exceeding  growth  of  their  faith  (2  Thess,  i :  3).  He  also  asked  the 
Thessalonian  Christians  to  pray  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  might  run 
and  be  glorified  in  Corinth  even  as  in  Thessalonica — language  which 
he  certainly  could  not  have  used  had  he  not  been  in  a  high  degree 
satisfied  with  the  activity  of  his  young  converts. 

But  this  faith  toward  God,  which  was  proved  by  their  activity 
and  their  patient  endurance  of  persecution,  was  equaled  or  even 
excelled  by  their  love  one  toward  another.  It  was  not  needful,  Paul 
said,  to  write  to  them  on  this  subject,  for  they  were  obviously  taught 
of  God  (i  Thess.  4:9).  And  when  he  wrote  his  second  letter,  he 
spoke  again  of  the  abounding  love  which  his  readers  had  for  each 
other  (2  Thess.  1:3).  It  was  doubtless  this  fact  of  mutual  love 
which  made  it  possible  for  the  church  to  be  at  peace  and  to  thrive, 
though  having  at  the  most  a  very  rudimentary  and  unofficial 
organization. 

But  the  church  was  not  altogether  of  this  sort.  There  were  in- 
stances of  falling  back  into  gentile  immoralities  (i  Thess.  4:3-8); 
there  were  apparently  some  who  made  light  of  the  second  coming 


I40  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

of  the  Lord  (i  Thess.  5:6,  8),  as  there  were  other  extremists  who 
could  speak  of  nothing  else  than  that  coming;  and  then  there  were 
also  some  quarrelsome,  some  faint-hearted,  and  some  weak  (i  Thess. 
5:13,  14).  Yet  when  it  is  considered  that  the  recipients  of  these 
letters  had  been  out  of  heathenism  less  than  half  a  year,  the  way  in 
which  the  gospel  had  laid  hold  upon  them,  and  transformed  them, 
is  a  fact  of  the  utmost  significance. 

§95.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  do  the 
Thessalonian  letters  say  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  Paul's  life  while 
in  Thessalonica  ?  (2)  On  what  point  of  teaching  regarding  God  and 
Christ  and  the  Christian  life  do  they  indicate  that  Paul  laid  stress  ? 
(3)  What  do  the  Thessalonian  letters  indicate  in  regard  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church  in  Thessalonica?  (4)  What  doctrine  was 
especially  prominent  among  the  Thessalonian  believers  ?  (5)  What 
fear  was  entertained  regarding  those  who  had  died  ?  (6)  How  did 
Paul  comfort  his  readers  in  this  matter  (see  i  Thess.  4 :  14)  ?  (7)  What 
other  harm  came  from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  same  doctrine  ? 
(8)  What  were  the  prominent  features  of  the  Christian  life  of  the 
Thessalonians  ?     (9)  What  defects  in  their  life  are  manifest  ? 

§  96.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Litera- 
ture. 

(i)  On  the  basis  of  a  careful  study  of  the  letters  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians write  a  short  chapter  on  Paul's  presentation  of  the  gospel  to 
the  Thessalonians  and  the  early  days  of  the  Thessalonian  church. 

(2)  With  reference  to  a  change  in  Paul's  view  of  the  nearness  of 
the  Lord's  coming  study,  in  addition  to  the  passages  in  Thessalo- 
nians, I  Cor.  15:51,  52;  Rom.  13:12;  001.3:4;  Phil.  4:5;  i  Tim. 
6: 14;    2  Tim.  4:  i,  6. 

(3)  On  the  genuineness  of  2  Thessalonians  see: 

Bacon,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  and  Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic 
Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  295-98. 

(4)  What  other  letters  did  Paul  authenticate  as  he  did  2  Thessa- 
lonians ?     Why  did  he  do  this  ? 


CHAPTER  XV 

PAUL  IN  EPHESUS  ON  HIS  THIRD  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY 

SYNOPSIS 

§  97.    Christian  forerunners  of  Paul  in  Ephesus.  Acts  18:19a,  24-28 

§  gS.    Paul's  work  in  Ephesus  according  to  Acts.  Acts,  chap.  19 

§  99.    Significant  events  of  the  Ephesian  period  witnessed  to  by  PauPs  letters. 

§  97.  Christian  Forerunners  of  Paul  in  Ephesus. — When  Paul 
sailed  from  Cenchreae  for  Syria,  his  friends  Priscilla  and  Aquila  were 
with  him,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  he  had  asked  them  to  go,  with 
the  thought  of  work  in  Ephesus.  It  appears  that  he  no  longer  felt 
toward  work  in  Asia  as  he  had  at  an  earlier  day  (Acts  16 : 6),  for  when 
his  ship  touched  at  Ephesus,  he  went  into  the  synagogue  and  rea- 
soned with  the  Jews,  and  though  he  did  not  think  it  best  to  remain, 
he  intimated  that  he  would  come  back.  If,  then,  he  was  already 
considering  Ephesus  as  a  field  of  labor  when  he  left  Corinth,  it  was 
natural  that  he  should  desire  to  have  these  congenial  and  gifted  fel- 
low-laborers with  him. 

About  the  time  when  Aquila  and  his  wife  settled  in  Ephesus, 
Apollos  also  came  to  the  city  and  began  to  speak  boldly  in  the  syna- 
gogue concerning  Jesus,  that  is  to  say,  he  preached  that  Jesus  was 
the  Messiah.  Luke's  language  thait'he  taught  "^accurately  the  things 
concerning  Jesus"  implies  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  leading 
facts  of  his  life  and  teaching,  and  with  his  resurrection.  As  Apollos 
was  an  Alexandrian  by  race,  and  so  presumably  had  been  instructed 
in  the  way  of  the  Lord  in  that  city,  we  have  indirect  evidence  that 
the  gospel  was  preached  in  Egypt  before  Paul  worked  in  Ephesus. 
The  word  used  by  Luke  when  he  says  that  Apollos  had  been  instructed 
in  the  way  of  the  Lord  (Karrjxovfievo^)  suggests  that  he  had  re- 
ceived his  instruction  orally  rather  than  from  writings  (cf.  the  use  of 
the  word  in  Luke  1 14;   Acts  21 :2i,  24;    i  Cor.  14:19;    Gal.  6:6). 

Apollos  was  a  Christian,  but  was  unacquainted  with  Christian 
baptism.  The  same  position  was  occupied  by  the  twelve  disciples 
whom  Paul  found  in  Ephesus  (Acts  19:1-7).     They  knew  only  the 


[42 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    THP:    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


baptism  of  John.  Apparently  they  had  not  heard  of  Pentecost,  and 
the  doctrine  of  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  had  a  conference  with  Apollos,  and,  according  to  Luke, 
"  expounded  unto  him  the  way  of  God  more  accurately."  He  appears 
to  have  received  their  instruction,  for  when,  later,  he  was  disposed 
to  go  over  to  Achaia  to  preach,  the  brethren  commended  him,  and 
his  work  in  Achaia  was  profitable  to  believers.     Doubtless  he  was 


GENERAL   VIEW    OF    EPHESUS   AS   IT   WAS   IN    183c 


baptized,  perhaps  by  Aquila,  as  the  other  disciples  who  shared  his 
position  received  baptism  from  Paul. 

The  narrative  of  Luke  does  not  connect  the  group  of  believers 
whom  Paul  found  in  Ephesus  with  Apollos.  If  they  had  been  his 
disciples,  it  would  be  strange  that  he  did  not  take  to  them  the  fuller 
knowledge  which  he  had  received  from  Aquila  and  Priscilla ;  strange, 
too,  that  Aquila  and  Priscilla  themselves  did  not  meet  them.  In 
view  of  these  considerations  one  is  inclined  to  think  that  they  may 
have  come  out  of  the  same  Alexandrian  circle  from  which  Apollos 
had  come,  and  that  Apollos  had  gone  from  Ephesus  before  they 
arrived. 


PAUL   IN    EPHESUS 


t43 


§  98.  Paul's  "Work  in  Ephesus  According  to  Acts. — When  Paul 
set  out  on  his  second  missionary  journey,  he  visited  the  churches  of 
Syria  and  Cihcia  as  well  as  those  of  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia  (Acts  15 :4i ; 
16: 1-5).  But  when  he  next  left  Antioch,  he  went,  according  to  Luke, 
into  the  region  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  (Acts.  18:  23).  After  a  period 
whose  length  is  not  at  all  indicated,  he  reached  Ephesus. 

Ephesus,  situated  near  the  Cayster  River  on  the  coast  of  Lydia, 


EPHESUS:    RUINS    OF   THE   TEMPLE    OF    DIANA 

had  long  been  the  chief  of  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  when  Paul  came 
thither  with  the  gospel.  It  had  been  the  capital  of  the  Roman 
province  of  Asia  for  nearly  two  centuries  (since  133  b.  c).  It  had 
a  large  Jewish  population,  many  of  whom  were  Roman  citizens 
(Antiq.,  14.  10.  16,  19),  and  all  of  whom  were  citizens  of  Ephesus 
{Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  p.  279).  The  city 
was  as  important  religiously  as  it  was  politically,  for  it  was  the  seat 
of  the  worship  of  Diana.  Her  temple,  which  was  more  than  three 
hundred  years  old  when  Paul  visited  Ephesus,  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  The  field,  therefore,  promised  to  be 
especially  difficult  as  well  as  especially  important. 


144  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

Paul  labored  longer  in  Ephcsus  without  interruption  than  in  ary 
other  city.  In  the  synagogue  he  spoke  boldly  three  months,  and  in 
the  school  of  Tyrannus  he  labored  more  than  two  years.  He  refers 
to  his  sojourn  in  Ephesus  as  having  lasted  three  years  (Acts  20:31). 
During  this  time  he  taught  daily,  both  in  public  and  from  house  to 
house  (Acts  20:20).  The  depth  and  extent  of  his  influence  are 
variously  illustrated.  Thus,  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthiars,. 
Paul  sends  salutations  from  the  "churches"  in  Asia  (i  Cor.  16:19); 
but  as  he  himself  had  planted  the  gospel  in  this  province,  these 
churches  were  all,  directly  or  indirectly,  his  creation.  Again,  Luke 
says  that  while  Paul  was  in  Ephesus,  all  who  dwelt  in  Asia — a  region 
approximately  the  size  of  New  England  and  thickly  populated — 
heard  the  word  of  the  Lord,  both  Jews  and  Greeks.  This  language 
is  obviously  hyperbolical,  but  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  it  would 
have  been  used  had  not  the  influence  of  Paul's  work  in  Ephesus. 
been  known  to  be  widely  pervasive.  Multitudes  who  came  to  Ephesus 
on  business  or  to  w^orship  must  have  seen  and  heard  him.  When 
any  of  these  were  converted,  they,  of  course,  bore  the  seeds  c  f  the 
gospel  to  their  own  homes.  And  doubtless  there  were  Ephesian 
converts  who  went  forth  as  evangelists  into  the  surrounding  region. 

Another  illustration  of  Paul's  influence  in  Ephesus  is  the  story 
of  the  coflapse  of  magic,  which  need  not  be  wholly  discredited  simply 
because  it  can  not  be  regarded  as  wholly  historical.  We  may  well 
believe  that  Jewish  exorcists  conjured  with  the  potent  names  of 
Jesus  and  Paul.  This  would  net  indicate  that  they  had  faith  in 
Jesus  or  respect  for  Paul,  but  only  that  they  were  keeping  abreast 
of  the  times.  If  they  used  these  names,  it  was,  of  course,  for 
material  gain. 

Luke  tells  how  two  Jews,  sons  of  a  chief  priest,  when  seeking  to 
exorcise  a  demon  by  means  of  the  names  of  Jesus  and  Paul,  w^ere 
attacked  by  the  demoniac  and  put  to  flight.  He  said  that  he  knew 
Jesus  and  Paul,  and  this  word  became  widely  circulated  and  was 
regarded  as  a  veritable  recognition  of  Jesus  and  Paul  by  the  powers, 
of  evil.  One  consequence  was  that  many  magicians,  feeling  that 
demoniac  power  would  succumb  to  no  exorcism  save  that  of  Jesus 
and  Paul,  voluntarily  burned  their  books  on  magic.  Of  course  it 
does  not  follow  that  these  men  became  Christians.     The  act  of  burn- 


PAUL   IN   EPHESUS 


145 


ing  their  books  may  have  been  quite  as  superstitious  as  anything 
they  had  hitherto  done.  The  value  of  the  incident,  if  historical,  is 
that  it  witnesses  to  the  power  of  Paul's  personality  and  to  the  deep 
impression  made  by  his  gospel. 

It  may  have  been  the  fact  of  Paul's  great  success  in  Ephesus 
which  gave  rise  to  the  story  that  extraordinary  miracles  had  bjen 
wrought  by  his  hands.  Luke  says  that  sick  persons -and  demoniacs 
were  healed  by  the  application  of  handkerchiefs  and  aprons  which 


^Ja  III  II,  .1  iWppWWHy^    m,        1^            jgp^l 

EPHESUS:    SITE    OF    THE   THEATRE 

had  touched  the  body  of  Paul.  Now  if  Paul  authorized  this 
practice,  he  must  have  known  that  the  persons  in  need  had  faith  to 
be  healed  in  this  way,  and  accordingly  made  a  concession  to  the 
superstition  of  Ephesus.  But  this  seems  extremely  improbable. 
The  "signs"  of  an  apostle  were  indeed  wrought  by  Paul  (2  Cor.  12:12; 
Rom.  15:18,  19),  but  they  were  altogether  unhke  the  acts  of  which 
Luke  makes  mention  at  this  point. 

The  work  of  Paul  in  Ephesus  was  at  length  interrupted  by  gentiles 
who   had   suffered  pecuniary   loss   from  his  preaching.     A  promi- 


146  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

nenl  industry  of  the  city  was  the  manufacture  of  shrines  of  the  goddess. 
In  this  industry  a  certain  Demetrius  was  engaged,  who  appears  to 
have  been  a  large  employer  of  skilled  labor.  He  gathered  the  crafts- 
men together,  and  wrought  up  their  passions  by  telling  them 
that  they  were  losing  their  means  of  support  through  Paul's  preach- 
ing, and  that  even  their  goddess  was  in  danger  of  being  deposed. 
Their  excitement  communicated  itself  to  others  as  they  rushed 
through  the  city  to  the  great  theater,  dragging  with  them  two  com- 
panions of  Paul,  Gaius  and  Aristarchus.  The  gathering  in  the 
theater  was  without  intelligent  control.  The  greater  part  of  those 
present  knew  not  why  they  were  there.  A  Jew  by  the  name  of  Alex- 
ander attempted  to  speak,  but  in  vain.  He  only  increased  the  ex- 
citement, for  he  was  recognized  as  a  Jew,  and  it  was  of  course  known 
that  Paul  belonged  to  this  hated  race.  The  circumstance  that  this 
Alexander  was  put  forward  by  the  Jews  may  indicate  that  voices 
had  been  heard  in  the  theater  charging  the  trouble  to  the  Jews,  and 
that  they  wished  to  defend  themselves. 

When  the  multitude  had  exhausted  themselves  with  shouting,  the 
town-clerk,  who  also  may  have  been  one  of  the  highpriests  friendly 
to  Paul  (vs.  31),  but  who  was  in  any  case  clothed  with  high  authority, 
persuaded  the  crowd  to  disperse.  He  declared  that  Diana's  position 
was  perfectly  secure.  No  one  could  deny  that  her  heaven-descended 
image  was  in  the  temple.  He  said  also  that  no  valid  complaint  had 
been  lodged  against  the  Christians ;  that  Demetrius  and  the  crafts- 
men had  ample  legal  provisions  by  which  to  secure  their  rights; 
and  finally  that  such  a  riotous  meeting  might  bring  serious  accusa- 
tions against  the  city.  Thus  Demetrius  failed  to  get  any  official 
support  for  his  opposition  to  the  Christians,  and  also  failed  to  excite 
such  popular  feeling  that  it  resulted  in  assaults  on  Paul  and  other 
leaders. 

But  though  Paul  was  at  liberty  to  continue  preaching  in  Ephesus, 
he  at  once  voluntarily  left  the  city,  perhaps  fearing  that  his  presence 
would  aggravate  the  situation  and  interfere  with  the  progress  of  the 
gospel. 

§  99.  Significant  Events  of  the  Ephesian  Period  Witnessed  to  by 
PauPs  Letters. — The  years  spent  in  Ephesus,  even  according  to 
Luke's  narrative,  were  crowded  with  labors  and  dramatic  incidents. 


PAUL   IN   EPHESUS 


147 


If  to  this  narrative  we  add  certain  hints  found  in  Paul's  letters,  we 
get  a  greatly  heightened  impression  of  the  apostle's  capacity  for 
work  and  of  his  ability  to  direct  a  great  religious  movement. 

If  the  Ephesian  period  was  remarkable  for  its  successes,  so  was  it 
also  for  its  perils.  It  was  here  that  Paul  fought  with  beasts  (i  Cor. 
15:32).  Whether  we  understand  this  language  literally  or  figura- 
tively, it  implies  extraordinary  danger.     Even  if  the  "beasts"  were 


A   THEATRE    OF    THE   FIRST    CENTURY    (POMPEII) 

men,  as  we  are  probably  to  hold,  the  very  term  of  the  comparison 
and  the  fact  that  fighting  with  beasts  seems  to  be  regarded  as  a 
stronger  expression  than  the  preceding  words,  "I  die  daily,"  require 
us  to  think  of  some  peculiarly  savage  attack  on  Paul. 

It  was  also  probably'  in  Ephesus  also  that  an  affliction  befell  the 
apostle  out  of  which  his  deliverance  seemed  to  him  as  a  resurrection 
from  the  dead — so  manifestly  divine  was  it  (2  Cor.  1:8-11).     The 

I  2  Cor.  1:8  specifies  the  scene  of  this  event  as  "in  Asia,"  i.e.  in  the  province 
of  which  Ephesus  was  the  capital.  But  wc  do  not  know  of  work  by  Paul  in  the  province 
outside  of  Ephesus. 


148  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

nature  of  this  event  is  not  indicated;  the  readers  are  assumed  to  be 
acquainted  with  it,  at  least  in  a  general  way.  The  "marks  of  Jesus," 
which  Paul  tells  the  Galatians  that  he  bore  branded  on  his  body, 
may  have  recorded  some  of  his  extreme  sufferings  while  in  Ephesus. 

But  these  physical  perils  and  afflictions  were  perhaps  of  less  con- 
cern to  Paul  than  the  trials  to  which  some  of  his  newdy  founded 
churches  subjected  him.  Thus  it  was  probably  while  he  was  at 
Ephesus  that  he  heard  of  the  alarming  turn  of  affairs  among  his 
Galatian  converts.  How  profoundly  he  was  moved  by  this  report 
is  shown  by  every  page  of  his  letter  to  them.  No  less  deeply  was  he 
stirred  during  this  time  by  events  which  were  taking  place  in  the 
Corinthian  church.  To  this  church  he  wrote  a  letter  which  has  not 
been  preserved  (i  Cor.  5:9),  and  to  this  also,  in  the  judgment  of 
many  scholars,  he  made  a  visit  from  Ephesus  of  which  Acts  has  no 
record.  The  clearest  indication  of  such  a  visit  is  2  Cor.  2:1.'  If 
Paul  visited  the  Corinthian  church  during  the  Ephesian  period,  the 
visit  was  painful  because  of  the  bold  opposition  of  his  adversaries 
(2  Cor.  2:1;  I  Cor.  4:18). 

Thus  we  see  the  anxiety  for  churches  at  a  distance,  where  the 
very  existence  of  Paul's  work  was  in  jeopardy,  mingled  with  the 
immediate  toils  and  perils  of  the  Ephesian  ministry.  But  he  bore 
the  toils,  escaped  the  perils,  and  by  his  letters  to  the  Galatians  and 
Corinthians  successfully  asserted  his  spiritual  authority  among  them. 

§  TOO.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Whom  did 
Paul  take  with  him  when  he  left  Corinth,  and  for  what  purpose? 
(2)  Who  was  Apollos,  and  what  was  lacking  in  his  Christian  instruc- 
tion ?  (3)  What  evidence  is  there  that  he  accepted  the  instruction 
of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  ?  (4)  Are  the  men  in  Ephesus  who  held  the 
same  view  as  Apollos  to  be  regarded  as  his  disciples  ?  (5)  By  what 
route  did  Paul  go  from  Antioch  to  Ephesus  ?  (6)  Locate  and  de- 
scribe Ephesus.  (7)  Why  was  it  an  important  and  difficult  field? 
(8)  How  long  did  Paul  labor  in  Ephesus  ?  (9)  Illustrate  the  depth 
and  extent  of  his  influence. 

(10)  What  light  do  the  letters  of  Paul  throw  on  his  perils  and 
sufferings  while  in  Ephesus  ?   (11)  What  other  great  trials  befell  him 

'  Other  passages  which  may  be  held  to  imply  this  visit  are  2  Cor.  12:14;    13:1,  2. 


PAUL   IN   EPHESUS 


149 


at  this  time?     (12)  What  journey  is  it  possible  that    he   made  of 
which  Acts  has  no  record  ? 

§  loi.    Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  work  in  Ephesus,  especially  as   illus- 
trating Paul's  capacity  for  work  and  the  sufferings  which  befell  him. 

2.  On  Apollos  as  a  disciple  of  John  the  Baptist  sec: 
McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  290-92. 

3.  Regarding  a  third  visit  in  Corinth  not  mentioned  in  Acts  see : 
Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  343-49. 


RAPHAEL'S   HEAD    ()E    PAUL 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   LIFE   OF  THE   GALATIAN  CHURCHES  AS   SEEN  THROUGH 
PAUL'S  LETTER  TO  THE  GALATIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§  I02.    The  Christian  estate  of  the  Galatians  before  their  apostasy. 

§  103.    The  judaizers  or  "false  brethren." 

§  104.    Why  and  how  far  the  Galatians  were  carried  away  by  the  judaizers. 

§  102.  The  Christian  Estate  of  the  Galatians  before  Their  Apos- 
tasy.—It  was  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter  that  among  the  heavy 
burdens  which  Paul  had  to  bear  while  in  Ephesus  was  the  sudden 
and  extreme  peril  confronting  his  Galatian  converts.  We  are  now 
to  consider,  so  far  as  Paul's  letter  makes  it  possible  to  do  so,  the 
nature  and  extent  of  this  peril.  Incidental  to  the  aim  of  the  letter 
to  the  Galatians  are  certain  remarks  which  enable  us  to  form  some 
idea  of  their  estate  before  they  were  troubled  by  the  "false  brethren" 
(Gal.  4:14).  Thus  we  learn  that  they  had  welcomed  Paul  as  an 
angel,  or  even  as  though  he  had  been  Christ  Jesus  himself,  which 
was  of  course  due  to  the  message  which  he  brought.  When  it  is 
said  that  they  would  have  plucked  out  their  eyes  and  have  given 
them  to  Paul  (Gal.  4:14,  15),  we  see  in  that  language  how  keenly 
they  appreciated  his  gospel.  They  had  come  to  know  God  and  had 
received  the  Spirit  (Gal.  3:2;  4:9).  The  impression  made  upon 
them  by  Paul's  preaching  had  been  deep  and  abiding.  They  had 
run  well  the  Christian  race  (Gal.  5:7).  They  had  been  called  to 
suffer  much  (Gal.  3:4),  that  is,  on  account  of  their  faith,  and  it  is 
implied  that  they  had  endured  their  sufferings  as  Christians  should. 
That  their  general  condition  had  been  eminently  satisfactory  to  the 
apostle  is  apparent  from  the  surprise  and  deep  emotion  with  which 
he  heard  of  their  turning  aside  (see,  e.  g.,  1:6;  3:1).  The  news 
was  as  lightning  out  of  a  clear  sky. 

The  letter  contains  indications  that,  while  the  general  spiritual 
condition  of  the  Galatians  had  been  worthy  of  high  praise,  there 
had  been  some  defects  in  their  life,  notably,  sensual  sins,  sorcery 

150 


LIFE    OF   THE    GALATIAN    CHURCHES  15I 

and  factiousness  (Gal.  5:19,  20).  These  had  characterized  them 
before  they  accepted  the  gospel,  and  Paul  had  warned  them  that 
they  could  not  practice  such  things  and  yet  hope  to  inherit  the  king- 
dom of  God.  The  fact  that  he  repeats  this  warning  shows  that  it 
was  still  needed. 

§  103.  The  Judaizers  or  "False  Brethren." — The  churches  of 
Galatia  had  become  unsettled  by  Jewish  Christians  who,  visiting 
the  Galatians  in  Paul's  absence,  insisted  upon  the  observance  of  the 
law.  Paul  gives  these  men  no  specific  name,  but  clearly  character- 
izes their  position.  Men  who  held  the  same  views  at  Antioch,  and 
whose  agitation  led  to  the  conference  in  Jerusalem,  were  called 
"false  brethren;"  and  Paul's  words  of  rebuke  to  Peter  in  Antioch 
shortly  after  the  conference  suggest  the  name  "judaizers"  for  the 
same  class  of  people  (Gal.  2:14). 

One  would  not  gather  from  Paul's  letter  that  he  regarded  these 
men  as  Christians,  and  it  is  clear  that  they,  in  turn,  can  have  had 
but  scant  respect  for  his  Christianity.  He  declares  that  they  would 
pervert  the  gospel  (1:7);  that  their  motive,  or  one  of  their  motives, 
was  to  avoid  persecution  (6:12);  and  he  virtually  pronounces  an 
anathema  upon  them  (1:8,  9).  They  have  no  profit  from  Christ 
because  they  are  under  the  law  (5:4).  Such,  briefly,  was  Paul's 
estimate  of  the  judaizers.  When  we  turn  to  the  other  side,  we  see 
that  they  thought  poorly  of  him.  They  evidently  had  said  that  he 
was  no  apostle,  or  at  best  had  only  a  second-hand  apostleship,  for 
Paul  takes  great  pains  to  show  that  his  apostleship  "was  authorized 
by  God  himself,  vouchsafed  to  him  through  the  vision  of  Christ, 
exercised  in  independent  missionary  work,  recognized  by  the  author- 
ities in  Jerusalem,  and  maintained  against  them"  (Dobschutz). 
They  said  also  that  Paul  was  seeking  to  please  men,  that  is,  in  preach- 
ing a  gospel  of  freedom  from  the  law  (i :  10),  and  that  he  was  incon- 
sistent, for  sometimes  he  himself  preached  circumcision  (5:11). 
Then  they  declared  that  he  was  really  the  enemy  of  the  Galatians 
(4:16).  Whether  they  anathematized  him,  as  he  anathematized 
them,  we  do  not  know.  Certainly  the  difference  between  them  was 
fundamental,  and  each  thought  the  other  hopelessly  wrong. 

Whence  these  false  brethren  came  to  the  churches  of  Galatia  the  letter  does 
not  directly  suggest.     It  is  conceivable  that  they  arose  in  that  very  field,  for 


152  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

am()n<;  the  Jews  of  Galatia  who  accepted  the  gospel  there  might  have  been  some 
who  from  the  first  had  resented  the  free  admission  of  the  gentiles,  and  who  after 
Paul's  departure  instituted  a  vigorous  propaganda  in  support  of  the  Jewish  law. 
We  know  that  the  Hellenistic  Jews  could  be  as  fanatically  devoted  to  the  customs 
of  the  fathers  as  those  who  had  spent  their  lives  in  the  shadow  of  the  temple.  But 
while  such  an  origin  of  the  judaizers  of  Galatia  may  be  conceivable,  it  appears 
quite  improbable.  The  fact  that  men  of  this  type  had  come  down  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Antioch,  and  the  implication  that  they  had  also  gone  throughout  Syria 
and  Cilicia  (Acts  15:23,  24)  suggest  that  the  agitation  in  Galatia  is  to  be  traced 
to  the  same  source.  There  is  also  a  passage  in  the  letter  to  the  Galatians,  which, 
if  it  does  not  directly  suggest  this  view,  at  least  favors  it.  That  is  the  allegory 
of  Sarah  and  Hagar.  Hagar  answers  to  the  "Jerusalem  that  now  is,"  whose 
children  are  in  bondage,  Sarah  to  the  Jerusalem  which  is  above,  whose  children 
are  free.  This  passage  is  most  forcible  if  the  judaizers  were  from  Jerusalem, 
the  mother  church,  and  if  they  claimed  that,  on  this  account,  they  had  superior 
authority.  Holtzmann  suggests  that  one  of  their  \vatchwords  was  this, 
"Jerusalem  is  our  mother." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  we  have  no  description  of  the  views  of  the  judaizers  by 
one  of  themselves.  For  though  their  aim  is  clear  from  Paul's  letters,  and  we  can 
have  no  doubt  on  which  side  essential  truth  lay,  yet  we  could  judge  of  the  men 
better  if  we  knew  just  how  the  great  question  of  the  gentiles'  relation  to  the  law 
looked  to  them,  and  with  what  arguments  they  supported  their  position.  That 
the  arguments  seemed  to  them  absolutely  conclusive  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
And  there  is  no  more  reason  to  question  their  sincerity  than  there  is  to  question 
the  sincerity  of  their  great  adversary.  Their  apprehension  of  the  gospel  was 
obviously  defective  in  the  extreme,  but  this  does  not  imply  that  their  motives 
were  impure. 

The  position  of  the  judaizers  as  seen  through  Paul's  letters  can 
be  briefly  stated.  They  taught  that  the  law  was  in  force,  and  that 
salvation  for  gentile  as  for  Jew  was  by  works  of  the  law.  The 
messianic  deliverance  was  for  the  sons  of  Abraham,  and  gentiles 
who  would  share  in  that  deliverance  must  first  become  sons  of  Abra- 
ham by  coming  under  the  law.  Perfection  was  not  to  be  had  by 
faith,  as  Paul  taught,  but  by  works  (t,:^)-  -It  is  possible  that  they 
did  not  at  once  insist  upon  the  observance  of  the  entire  ceremonial 
law.  This  is  suggested  by  the  fact  that  while  some  in  the  church 
had  already  adopted  Jewish  feast  days  (4:10),  they  seemed  to  be 
wavering  in  regard  to  circumcision  (5:2).  But  this  hesitation  on 
the  part  of  the  Galatian  believers  to  accept  circumcision  is  to  be 
attributed  to  their  own  doubt  as  to  its  necessity  rather  than  to  any 
willingness  of  the  judaizers  to  exempt  the  gentiles  from  this  funda- 


LIFE    OF   THE    GAL  ATI  AN    CHURCHES  1 53 

mental  part  of  the  ceremonial  law.  They  may  have  sought  to  bring 
the  Galatians  under  the  yoke  by  easy  stages,  leading  them  first  to 
keep  the  Jewish  feast  days,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
they  offered  them  a  compromise. 

What  the  judaizers  said  about  Jesus,  and  what  it  was  that  con- 
stituted their  "gospel"  (i:6),  the  letter  does  not  clearly  indicate. 
They,  of  course,  accepted  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  and  believed  in  his 
resurrection,  but  they  held  that  his  life  and  work  had  left  Judaism 
intact. 

§  104.  Why  and  How  Far  the  Galatians  Were  Carried  Away 
by  the  Judaizers. — It  is  plain  from  the  intense  feeling  of  the  letter 
to  the  Galatians  that  the  false  brethren  had  already  taken  a  firm 
hold  on  the  churches  of  that  region.  Their  "different  gospel"  had 
to  some  considerable  extent  carried  the  day.  Some  of  the  Galatians, 
apparently  many  of  them,  had  accepted  the  principle  of  salvation  by 
works  of  the  law.  They  were  already  keeping  the  Jewish  feasts, 
one  of  these  doubtless  being  the  observance  of  the  Jewish  weekly 
Sabbath.  That  many  had  been  circumcised  seems  improbable 
(5:2),  though  there  may  have  been  some  instances  in  which  this  step 
had  been  taken  (6:12).  Evidently  the  report  of  affairs  in  the  Gala- 
tian  churches  was  to  the  effect  that  the  believers  were  at  the  very 
point  of  accepting  circumcision.  Paul  may  have  felt  that  it  was 
quite  possible  that  this  step  had  been  taken  even  while  the  report 
was  on  the  way. 

The  judaizers  had  not  carried  the  entire  membership  of  the  Gala- 
tian  churches  with  them.  Paul  can  still  speak  of  some  who  are 
"spiritual"  (6:2),  though  the  evil  leaven  threatened  to  leaven  the 
whole  lump  (5:9).  Such  an  expression  of  confidence  as  that  in  5 :  10 
indicates  that  some  persons  were  known  to  him  who  still  stood  fast 
in  their  Christian  freedom.  If  the  sharp  contentions  among  the 
Galatians  were  occasioned  by  the  judaizers  (5 :  13-15),  that  also  would 
indicate  that  there  was  a  party  who  remained  loyal  to  Paul. 

The  apostle  marveled  that  the  Galatians  were  so  quickly  removing 
from  the  faith  (1:6),  but  it  is  not  altogether  strange  that  they  were  cap- 
tivated by  the  Jewish  view  of  salvation.  In  the  first  place,  a  religion 
of  works  was  nearer  to  their  old  religion  and  far  more  intelligible 
than   Paul's  spiritual  conception  of  the   Christian  life.     If  Paul's 


154  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

concc])tion  is  still  loo  high,  loo  mystical,  for  many  people,  after  cen- 
turies of  Christian  experience,  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  for  people  just 
taken  out  of  nature-worship  it  was  difficult  to  grasp,  and  that  the 
Jewish  doctrine  was  a  positive  relief.  Then,  again,  the  doctrine  of 
the  judaizers  seemed  to  be  powerfully  commended  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  plainly  loyal  to  the  Scriptures,  on  which  Paul  also  claimed  to 
stand,  and  because  it  accorded  with  the  practice  of  Jesus  and  of  his 
apostles.  These  facts  could  not  be  gainsaid,  and  must  have  weighed 
heavily  for  the  position  of  the  judaizers.  Finally,  in  addition  to 
these  things,  it  is  altogether  probable  that  the  Jewish  members  of 
the  Galatian  churches,  who  were,  of  course,  far  more  familiar  with 
the  Scripture  argument  than  the  gentiles  could  be,  were  the  first  to 
withdraw  from  Paul's  position,  and  their  example  could  not  fail  to 
influence  their  gentile  brethren.  The  success  of  the  judaizers,  there- 
fore, is  not  inexplicable. 

What  effect  Paul's  letter  had  in  the  Galatian  churches  we  can  not 
tell.  His  reference  to  a  collection  in  those  churches,  made  at  his 
direction  (i  Cor.  i6:i),  indicates  that  there  were  some,  at  least,  who 
recognized  his  authority,  but  it  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the 
judaizing  element  was  brought  back  by  the  letter.  If  the  Galatian 
churches  were  the  churches  of  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia,  then  the  fact 
that  Gaius  of  Derbe  (Acts  20:4)  appears  among  the  delegates  of  the 
churches  to  Jerusalem  suggests,  though  of  course  it  does  not  prove, 
that  the  influence  of  the  letter  was  salutary. 

§  105.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Where  was 
the  Roman  province  of  Galatia  ?  (2)  What  are  the  opinions  in  regard 
to  the  part  of  that  province  in  which  the  Galatian  churches  were 
situated  ?  (3)  Who  founded  these  churches  ?  (4)  Name  the  main 
characteristics  of  the  gospel  which  was  preached  to  them.  (5)  To 
what  disturbing  influence  were  these  churches  subjected  in 
Paul's  absence  from  them  ?  (6)  What  names  can  be  derived  from 
Galatians,  chap.  2,  to  describe  the  men  who  troubled  the  churches? 
(7)  What  was  Paul's  estimate  of  these  men?  (8)  What  was  their 
estimate  of  Paul  ?  (9)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  the 
judaizers  came  from  Jerusalem  ?  (10)  Whence  do  we  get  our  knowl- 
edge of  these  men?     (11)  What  was  the  behef  of  the  judaizers? 


LIFE    OF   THE    GALATIAN   CHURCHES 


155 


(12)  By  what  argument  did  they  endeavor  to  convince  the  Galatians  ? 

(13)  How  far  had  the  Galatian  churches  been  carried  away  by  the 
judaizers  ?  (14)  Explain  why  the  position  of  the  judaizers  had  so 
great  influence  with  the  Galatians?  (15)  What  effect  did  Paul's 
letter  have  ? 

§  io5.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  crisis  in  the  churches  of  Galatia.  In 
describing  the  judaizers,  make  use  of  Acts  15,  2  Cor.  10-13,  ^^^  Rom. 
16:17-20,  as  well  as  the  letter  to  the  Galatians. 

2.  On  the  date  and  place  of  composition  of  the  letter  to  the  Gala- 
tians see: 

Weiss,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  Vol.  I,  pp.  234  ff.,  who 
thinks  it  was  written  from  Ephesus  about  56  A.  D.;  Bacon,  New  Testament  Intro- 
duction, pp.  57,  58,  who  thinks  it  was  written  from  Corinth  in  the  year  50  A.  d.; 
and  McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  226  ff.,  who  thinks  it  was  written  from 
Antioch  before  the  second  missionary  journey. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  CHURCH  AT  CORINTH  AS  SEEN  THROUGH 
PAUL'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§  107.  Constituency  and  organization  of  the  church. 

§  108.  The  parties  in  the  church. 

§  109.  The  survival  of  gentile  immorality. 

§  no.  Marriage  versus  celibacy. 

§111.  The  use  of  sacrificial  meat. 

§112.  Women  in  public  worship. 

§  113.  Spiritual  gifts;  prophecy  and  speaking  with  tongues. 

§114.  Denial  of  the  resurrection. 

§  115.  Sacred  ordinances. 

§  107.    Constituency  and  Organization  of  the  Church. 

(a)  Constituency  0}  the  church. — The  Corinthian  church,  like  all 
the  other  churches  founded  by  Paul,  was  predominantly  gentile,  but 
the  Jewish  element  seems  to  have  been  of  considerable  size.  We  are 
told  that  Crispus  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  was  converted  with  all  his 
house  (Acts  18:8;  i  Cor.  1:14),  and  it  is  probable  that  the  "Cephas" 
party  had  its  nucleus  in  the  Jewish  contingent.  Of  the  gentiles  in 
the  Corinthian  church  it  is  likely  that  the  great  majority  were  Greek, 
but  as  Corinth  was  one  of  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  cities^  the  con- 
verts of  Paul  may  well  have  included  a  considerable  variety  of  races. 
His  host  (Gaius)  on  both  occasions  when  he  spent  any  length  of  time 
in  Corinth  appears  to  have  been  a  Roman  (Acts  18:7;  i  Cor.  i:i4)> 
also  his  amanuensis  (Tertius)  when  lie  composed  the  letter  to  the 
Romans,  and  two  of  those  who  sent  greetings  in  that  letter  (Lucius 
and  Quartus). 

In  regard  to  the  social,  educational,  and  financial  standing  of  the 
Corinthian  believers,  the  indications  are  that  a  large  majority  of 
them  belonged  to  the  lower  class.  Paul  reminded  them  that  not 
many  wise,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  had  been  called  (i  Cor. 
1:26).     Yet  the  poverty  and  ignorance  of  the  Corinthian  member- 

I  Mommsen,  Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  I,  p.  304,  says  that  Corinth 
was  the  least  Greek  town  in  Hellas. 

156 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH    AT    COi?INTH  157 

ship  must  not  be  too  strongly  emphasized.  Famihej^  hke  those  of 
Chloe  and  Stephanas,  who  could  undertake  long  journers  at  their 
own  charges  and  who  ministered  to  the  saints,  evidently  had  ir>eans. 
Crispus  and  Gaius  and  Erastus  were  probably  men  of  education  aird 
property.  Again,  believers  who  went  to  law  (i  Cor.  6)  were  cer- 
tainly not  of  the  poorest,  and  Paul  never  intimates  that  a  collection 
for  the  saints  in  Jerusalem  would  be  any  special  hardship  to  the 
Corinthian  Christians,  as  it  was  to  those  of  Macedonia.  The  fact 
that  Paul  labored  with  his  own  hands  while  founding  the  church  in 
Corinth  (Acts  18:3),  and  was  not  a  burden  to  the  converts  (2  Cor. 
11:7;  12:13),  was  for  reasons  independent  of  their  worldly  estate 
(2  Cor.  12:9-12). 

Of  the  size  of  the  Corinthian  church  at  the  time  when  the  letters 
were  written  we  have  no  very  definite  knowledge.  It  is  assumed  that 
they  all  met  together  for  worship,  apparently  in  a  private  house, 
which  suggests  that  the  number  was  comparatively  small,  perhaps 
one  to  three  hundred. 

(b)  The  organization  of  the  church  in  Corinth. — In  the  church  at  Corinth, 
which  was  five  or  six  years  old  when  the  letters  were  written,  there  appears  to 
have  been  no  formal  organization.  The  house  of  Stephanas  "set  themselves  to 
minister  to  the  saints"  (i  Cor.  16:15),  and  the  language  of  Paul  implies  that 
there  were  some  others  who  had  done  the  same.  Paul  "besought"  the  brethren 
to  be  in  subjection  to  such  leaders,  but  plainly  their  position  was  quite  unofficial. 
The  entire  absence  of  any  ordained  spiritual  leaders  appears  from  the  account 
of  the  public  worship  (i  Cor.  14:26-40).  Directing  and  governing  were  as  yet 
only  functions  variously  exercised,  and  not  fixed  in  regiilarly  appointed  officers 
(i  Cor.  12:29). 

The  Corinthian  church,  however,  may  not  have  been  exceptional  in  this 
matter  of  organization.  We  do  not  know  that  Paul  ever  repeated  the  course 
that  he  adopted  with  the  churches  of  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia.  There  were  bishops 
and  deacons  at  PhiHppi  when  Paul  wrote  to  that  church,  but  it  is  not  known 
that  Paul  had  anything  to  do  with  their  appointment.  In  any  case,  he  thought 
it  best  to  leave  the  Corinthians  to  work  out  an  organization  when  it  should  please 
them  to  do  so.  He  may  have  been  the  more  inclined  to  this  course  because  of 
the  strongly  developed  individualism  of  the  Corinthians.  Whether  the  disorders 
of  the  Corinthian  church  would  have  been  less,  had  there  been  bishops  and 
deacons,  we  have  no  means  of  determining. 

§  108.  The  Parties  in  the  Church. — Four  parties  sprang  up  in 
the  Corinthian  church  within  the  two  years  following  Paul's  depar- 
ture, whose  watchwords   were   Paul,  Apollos,  Cephas,  and  Christ 


^1^8  CHRIST^  j^^j^j^Y    jjj   ^jjj,    APOSTOLIC   AGE 

(i  Cor.  i:  I'*';.  The  work  of  Apollos  in  Corinth,  who  had  come 
over  frorPi  Ephesus  with  the  approval  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  and 
other  'orethren,  probably  gave  the  first  impulse  to  the  formation  of 
J,  party.  It  was  doubtless  after  the  departure  of  Apollos  that  some 
members  of  the  church  openly  professed  their  allegiance  to  him  in 
preference  to  Paul,  and  this  profession  led  others  to  declare  that 
Paul  was  their  standard.  Paul  and  Apollos  had  preached  the  same 
gospel,  as  the  language  of  Paul  plainly  implies  when  he  says  that  he 
had  planted  and  Apollos  had  watered  (i  Cor.  3:6).  It  is  implied 
also  in  the  fact  that,  even  after  the  division  had  arisen  in  the  church, 
Paul  urged  Apollos  to  go  again  to  Corinth  (i  Cor.  16:12).  The 
basis,  therefore,  of  the  unfortunate  division  in  the  church  must  have 
been  the  manner  rather  than  the  matter  of  the  teaching  of  Paul  and 
Apollos.  The  teaching  of  Paul  had  not  been  in  persuasive  words  of 
wisdom,  it  had  not  carried  men  along  by  its  studied  eloquence,  but 
had  been  a  plain  and  direct  appeal  to  the  reason  and  heart.  Apollos, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  a  man  of  decided  emotional  temperament, 
a  speaker  of  exceptional  brilliancy  and  force  (Acts  18:24,  25,  28). 
Since  he  was  an  Alexandrian,  he  may  well  have  come  under  the  power- 
ful influence  of  Philo's  philosophy,  in  which  case  his  teaching  would 
have  been  the  more  likely  to  find  enthusiastic  adherents  among  the 
Greeks  of  Corinth. 

We  may  suppose  that,  at  the  time  when  First  Corinthians  was 
written,  these  two  parties,  that  of  Apollos  and  that  of  Paul,  were 
more  conspicuous  than  the  other  two.  The  Cephas  party  and  the 
Christ  party  are  barely  named,  and  there  seem  to  be  very  few  allu- 
sions to  them  in  the  first  letter.  As  to  the  former  of  these  parties, 
we  can  only  conjecture  what  their  distinctive  position  was.  Peter 
had  not  been  in  Corinth,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  had  pur- 
posely sought  to  have  influence  there.  But  his  name  and  work  may 
easily  have  become  known  to  members  of  the  synagogue,  and  it  was 
probably  among  these  that  his  type  of  teaching  was  held  as  being  in 
some  respect  superior  to  that  of  Paul  or  that  of  Apollos.  We  may  not 
err  if  we  suppose  that  this  party  was  mildly  legalistic,  their  teaching 
being  a  half-way  station  between  the  gospel  of  Paul  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  Christ  party  (cf.  Pfleiderer,  The  Influence  0}  the  Apostle 
Paul  on  Christianity,  Hibbert  Lectures,  1885), 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH   AT    COk.  j  t^O 

But  the  Christ  party,  since  their  leaders  seem  to  ^  ^^^  people 
against  whom  Paul  directs  his  argument  in  the  last  four  CK^^^^g  of 
second  Corinthians,  are  well  known.  The  originators  of  thibCq^. 
tion  were  the  same  sort  of  people  as  those  who  unsettled  the  churcht. 
of  Galatia,  that  is,  they  were  judaizers,  advocates  of  circumcision 
and  of  salvation  by  works  of  the  law.  The  fact  that  when  Paul 
wrote  our  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  he  barely  mentioned  this 
party  indicates  that  the  messengers  from  Chloe  had  said  little  about 
it.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  most  influential  judaizers  had  not  yet 
arrived  in  Corinth,  and  that  the  party  was  still  in  its  infancy.  But 
in  the  interval  between  our  first  and  second  letters,  the  party,  whether 
through  a  powerful  reinforcement  from  abroad  or  by  a  rapid  internal 
development,  became  the  most  serious  menace  to  the  church.  The 
leaders  claimed  to  be  apostles  and  evidently  laid  much  stress  on  the 
character  of  their  appointment  (2  Cor,  12:11).  They  of  course  did 
not  claim  to  have  been  appointed  by  Christ ;  but  they  probably  rep- 
resented themselves  as  apostles  of  the  mother-church  at  Jerusalem. 
The  letters  of  commendation  with  which  they  seem  to  have  been 
furnished  (2  Cor.  3:1)  doubtless  purported  to  be  from  the  authorities 
of  that  church.  Why  they  called  themselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,* 
whether  because  they  claimed  to  have  seen  him  in  the  flesh,  or  only 
because  they  claimed  to  represent  his  teaching  in  its  purity,  we  can 
not  tell. 

The  work  of  these  men  in  the  Corinthian  church  abounded  in 
personalities.  They  called  in  question  Paul's  apostleship  (i  Cor.  9:1; 
2  Cor.  12:12,  etc.);  they  denied  that  he  had  ever  received  revela- 
tions from  the  Lord  (see  2  Cor.  12:1-11);  they  spoke  disparagingly 
of  his  presence  and  speech,  as  lacking  the  authority  which  belongs 
to  the  apostolic  consciousness  (2  Cor.  10:10);  they  apparently  put 
the  same  interpretation  on  the  fact  that  Paul  had  not  taken  support 
from  the  Corinthian  believers  while  he  labored  among  them  (2  Cor. 
11:7;  12:16-18);  and  they  declared  that  he  walked  according  to 
the  flesh  (2  Cor.  10:2),  and  lacked  the  signs  of  an  apostle  (2  Cor. 
12:12).     These  personalities  Paul  answered  with  other  personalities, 

■  The  view  that  the  words  "I  of  Christ"  in  i  Cor.  1:12  give  Paul's  own  position, 
and  are  not  the  watchword  of  a  separate  party  in  Corinth,  is  not  only  contrary  to  the 
next  verse,  but  is  also  excluded  by  2  Cor.  10:7. 


l6o  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

but  also  with  ;<  crushing  weight  of  argument.  We  are  not  told  what 
influence  his  letter  had  on  this  particular  party,  but  it  is  plain  that 
the  church  as  a  whole  remained  faithful  to  him  (see,  e.  g.,  Rom. 
1.6:21-23;  Acts  20:3).  The  party  spirit  which  had  developed  with 
such  amazing  vigor,  fed  chiefly  by  the  inteUectual  pride  of  the  Cor- 
inthians, did  not  wreck  the  church. 

§  109.  The  Survival  of  Gentile  Immorality. — The  common 
standard  of  immorality  was  probably  lower  in  Corinth  than  in  any 
other  city  in  which  Paul  labored,  unless  Antioch  be  excepted  (cf. 
Mommsen,  Provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  II,  pp.  145  ff.).  To 
live  as  a  Corinthian  had  become  a  proverb.  Licentiousness  was 
part  of  the  recognized  service  of  that  goddess  whose  temple  was  the 
most  conspicuous  in  Corinth.  It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  that 
among  the  converts  to  Christianity  there  was  now  and  then  a  recrudes- 
cence of  gentile  immorality.  Two  immoral  tendencies  had  be- 
come especially  prominent  before  the  writing  of  the  first  letter,  viz., 
a  tendency  to  unchastity  and  a  tendency  to  quarrelsomeness.  For- 
nication seems  not  to  have  been  infrequent  (i  Cor.  6:12:20;  7:2; 
10:8).  Even  after  the  first  letter  had  been  received  in  Corinth, 
and  perhaps  also  after  Paul  had  again  visited  Corinth  and  had  writ- 
ten another  letter  which  is  no  longer  extant,  we  learn  that  many 
had  not  repented  of  their  uncleanness  and  fornication  and  lascivious- 
ness  (2  Cor.  12:21).  The  culminating  sin  of  this  sort  was  that  a 
member  of  the  church  lived  in  an  unlawful  relation  with  his  father's 
wife,  who  herself,  since  Paul  addresses  no  word  to  her,  may  be  re- 
garded as  an  unbeliever.  The  sin  was  aggravated,  if  possible,  by 
the  fact  that  the  father  was  still  living  (2  Cor.  7: 12),^  and  was  appar- 
ently a  member  of  the  church. 

The  most  significant  feature  of  this  case  was  that  the  church,  or 
at  least  a  large  number  of  the  members,  were  pufifed  up  regarding 
it  (i  Cor.  5:2),  yea,  actually  gloried  in  it  (i  Cor.  5:6),  This  seems 
at  first  incredible,  for  the  sin,  as  Paul  says,  was  condemned  even 
by  the  gentiles  (for  instances  see  Findlay  on  First  Corinthians  in 
The  Expositor's  Greek  Testament).  But  what  the  church  gloried 
in  was  not  the  bare  sin  itself.     Such  an  assumption  would  be  pre- 

1  It  is  open  to  question  whether  the  offender  of  i  Cor.  5  and  that  of  2  Cor.  7:8-12 
are  the  same  person.     That  appears  to  me,  on  the  whole,  the  most  probable  view. 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH    AT   CORINTH  l6l 

postcrous.  Their  standard  of  life  had  not  become  lower  since  they 
accepted  the  gospel,  but  vastly  higher.  They  were  puffed  up  regard- 
ing the  act,  and  for  a  time  defended  the  perpetrator  of  it,  simply  be- 
cause it  illustrated  the  principle  of  liberty,  which  they  held  with 
passionate  fervor  but  with  a  total  lack  of  moral  discrimination.  The 
man  who  had  married  his  father's  wife  was  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
hero  in  the  church  because  his  act  gave  the  boldest  illustration  of  the 
new  doctrine  of  individual  emancipation.  This  was  the  reason  why 
Paul  had  such  hard  work  to  carry  the  church  with  him  and  secure 
the  punishment  of  the  wrong-doer.  They  felt  that  a  principle  was  at 
stake,  which  they  were  unwilling  to  see  narrowed  in  the  least. 

It  seems  most  probable  that  the  obscure  passage  in  2  Corinthians  2:5-11  re- 
fers to  the  case  of  incest,  and  not  to  some  unknown  insult  offered  to  the  apostle  on 
that  visit  in  Corinth  which  fell  between  our  two  letters  (Weizsacker,  The  Apos- 
tolic Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  349-53).  A  certain  punishment  was,  accordingly,  inflicted 
on  the  wrong-doer,  but  not  by  the  entire  church;  there  was  a  minority  who  still 
held  out  against  Paul's  injunction  (2  Cor.  2:6).  Moreover,  if  we  put  a  visit  of 
Paul  to  Corinth  between  our  first  and  second  letters  (2  Cor.  2:1,  12:14;  '^y-'^)? 
and  if  we  refer  2  Cor.  2 : 4  to  a  lost  letter,  both  the  visit  and  the  letter  seem  to  have 
been  concerned  with  this  sin  of  incest,  and  we  have  thus  yet  more  evidence  of 
the  struggle  which  it  cost  the  apostle  to  teach  the  Corinthians  that  Christian 
liberty  is  not  license.  And  even  then  many  seem  to  have  remained  untaught 
{2  Cor.  12:21). 

The  other  outcropping  of  gentile  immorality  in  the  Corinthian 
church  was  litigiousness.  Brother  went  to  law  with  brother,  and 
that  before  unbelievers.  The  root  of  this  trouble  seems  to  have  been 
a  spirit  of  covetousness.  There  was  fraud  and  overreaching  in  the 
business  relations  of  Christians.  Those  who  brought  lawsuits  against 
their  brothers  rather  than  be  defrauded  were  themselves  open  to 
prosecution  for  their  wrong-doing.  It  is  plain  that  in  all  such  cases 
business  hfe  did  not  yet  feel  the  force  of  the  gospel  which  had  been 
formally  accepted. 

§110.  Marriage  versus  Celibacy.— Under  the  influence  of  the 
new  religious  views,  there  soon  arose  in  the  Corinthian  church  a 
decided  tendency  toward  an  ascetic  treatment  of  marriage.  A  strong 
revulsion  of  feeling  from  the  former  lax  conceptions  of  the  relati  ns 
of  the  sexes  carried  some  of  the  church  far  toward  the  other  extreme 
of  celibacy  for  the  unmarried  and  a  discontinuance  of  marital  rela- 


l62  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

ions  between  husbands  and  wives.  The  question  was  also  discussed 
whether  an  unbelieving  wife  or  husband  ought  not  to  be  divorced. 
On  these  points,  as  on  some  others,  they  wrote  to  Paul  for  counsel. 
Whether  this  was  by  vote  of  the  whole  company  of  believers  or  was 
the  act  of  a  part  only,  we  have  no  means  of  determining. 

This  questioning  in  the  Corinthian  church  is  an  evidence  that 
some  men  were  seeking  in  a  serious  manner  to  make  application  of 
the  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  is  also  evidence  that  their  glorying  in 
the  act  of  incest  was,  as  we  sought  to  show  in  the  last  paragraph, 
not  an  indication  of  sympathy  with  the  relation  itself  but  of  their 
hysterical  devotion  to  what  they  imagined  was  Christian  liberty. 

It  is  not  in  accord  with  the  plan  of  this  work  to  go  into  a  detailed  study  of 
Paul's  teaching  on  the  subject  of  marriage,  but  we  shall  simply  consider  it  with 
a  view  to  learning  the  thought  and  spirit  of  the  Corinthian  behevers.  Paul  be- 
gins with  the  declaration  that  it  is  good,  morally  becoming  and  right,  to  live  in 
celibacy.  The  form  of  the  statement  seems  to  imply  that  the  Corinthians  had 
put  the  question  regarding  the  advisability  of  celibacy  as  though  expecting  an 
affirmative  answer.  But  though  Paul  admits  that  celibacy  is  good,  he  thinks  it 
it  not  wise  for  his  Corinthian  converts  as  a  whole  (i  Cor.  7:2).  And  he  indicates 
plainly  why  he  regards  it  as  good,  viz.,  because  of  the  present  distress  (vs.  26; 
2  Thess.  2:2).  The  work  of  the  Lord  was  considered  to  be  urgent  because  the 
end  of  the  age  was  thought  to  be  near,  and  for  this  reason  it  seemed  advisable  for 
the  unmarried  to  remain  as  they  were,  provided  that  they  had  the  gift  of  con- 
tinency.  Paul  did  not  lay  down  a  general  principle  that  celibacy  is  morally  be- 
coming, still  less  that  it  is  preferable  to  the  married  state,  or  even  necessary  to  the 
attainment  of  holiness. 

To  those  who  were  married  to  unbelievers  Paul  applied  the  principle,  recog- 
nized by  Jesus,  that  the  marriage  bond  is  indissoluble.  If  the  unbelieving  hus- 
band or  wife  chose  to  depart,  it  was  to  be  allowed,  but  evidendy  Paul  inclined 
to  the  view  that  the  believing  member  of  the  household  should  seek  to  hold  the 
unbelieving  member  rather  than  to  promote  his  departure  by  cold  treatment. 
There  was  hope  that  the  unbelieving  member  would  be  won  over  to  the  gospel. 
And  this  exhortation  to  those  who  had  unbelieving  wives  or  husbands,  that  they 
should  continue  in  their  present  state,  was  addressed  also  to  those  who  were 
questioning  in  regard  to  circumcision  and  the  duty  of  Christian  slaves.  The 
presence  or  absence  of  circumcision,  Paul  wrote,  was  not  a  matter  to  be  discussed 
as  though  it  pertained  to  godliness,  and  the  Christian  slave,  seeing  that  he  was 
the  Lord's  freeman,  was  not  to  be  troubled  by  his  servitude  to  an  earthly  master.' 

I  The  translation  of  i  Cor.  7: 216  is  uncertain.  Vss.  20  and  24  favor  the  view 
that  Paul  would  have  the  Christian  slave  remain  with  his  master  even  though  he  had 
an  opportunity  to  become  free. 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH    AT    CORINTH  163 

§111.  The  Use  of  Sacrificial  Meat. — In  regard  to  the  use  of 
sacrificial  meat  there  were  two  views  among  the  Corinthian  behevers. 
It  is  plain  that  the  majority  had,  or  thought  they  had,  "knowledge" 
regarding  idols,  and  did  not  scruple  to  eat  the  sacrificial  meat.  The 
question,  therefore,  was  not  raised  by  these  on  their  own  account, 
but  on  account  of  certain  persons  who  hesitated  to  use  such  meat. 
These  are  referred  to  by  Paul  as  those  who  had  not  knowledge, 
or  as  those  whose  consciences  were  weak,  or  simply  as  the  weak. 
The  question  may  have  come  from  this  minority  orginally,  but  it  is 
obvious  that  they  who  wrote  the  letter  to  Paul  were  not  of  the  "weak." 
Their  view  of  the  matter  can  be  seen  through  Paul's  reply.  They 
felt  that  an  idol  was  naught,  and  therefore  the  meat  which  had  been 
sacrificed  remained  just  the  same  as  it  had  been  before.  One  could 
eat  it  without  hesitation;  and  evidently  this  is  what  they  did.  And 
they  were  inclined  to  look  upon  those  who  shrank  from  using  the 
sacrificial  meat  as  being  rather  stupid.  Paul  agreed  with  them  that 
an  idol  is  naught,  but  said  it  was  not  enough  to  recognize  this  fact; 
that  there  was  something  yet  more  important  in  its  bearing  on  their 
conduct,  and  that  was  their  brother's  good.  In  itself  it  was  not 
wrong  to  sit  at  meat  in  an  idol's  house,  but  it  was  wrong  if  thereby  a 
brother's  conscience  was  wounded. 

Believers  were  not  required  to  ask  about  meat  when  they  went 
to  the  markets  to  buy  (i  Cor.  10:23 — ii:i).  That  would  be  an  un- 
necessary concession  to  the  weak  brother.  But  when  they  were 
eating  in  another's  house,  the  house  of  an  unbeliever,  and  it  was  told 
them  that  the  meat  was  sacrificial,  they  should  refrain  from  eating 
on  account  of  the  other's  conscience.  The  word  employed  here  to 
designate  the  meat  (UpoOvrov,  not  elScoXodvrov)  indicates  that  the 
information  regarding  it  was  assumed  to  come  from  an  unbeliever, 
either  from  the  host  himself,  or,  more  probably,  from  a  guest. 
What  the  motive  could  be  in  such  a  case  is  not  altogether  clear,  but 
Paul  appears  to  suggest  that  it  might  be  the  unbeliever's  conscience, 
and  that  for  this  reason  he  counseled  abstinence. 

§  112.  Women  in  Public  Worship. — We  have  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining what  proportion  of  the  Corinthian  church  were  women,  but 
it  is  plain  that  the  women  of  that  church,  whether  more  or  less  in 
number,  were  conspicuous  in  the  meetings  for  worship.     The  doc- 


164  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

trine  of  liberty  was  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  women  participated 
freely  with  the  men  in  public  prayer  and  prophecy,  which  was  in 
harmony,  indeed,  with  Paul's  teaching  that  in  Christ  Jesus  there 
can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  neither  bond  nor  free,  neither  male  nor 
female.  The  apostle  never  laid  any  restriction  on  woman's  par- 
ticipation in  worship,  either  in  Corinth  or  elsewhere.  For  when  he 
enjoined  on  the  Corinthian  women  to  keep  silence  in  the  churches 
(i  Cor.  14:34,  35;  cf.  I  Tim.  2:11,  12),  the  context  shows  that  the 
speaking  which  was  prohibited  was  not  praying  or  prophesying,  that 
is,  not  participating  in  public  worship,  but  speaking  to  "learn." 
This  may  have  been  a  forward  asking  of  questions.'  It  certainly 
was  not  participation  in  worship. 

There  was,  however,  one  point  in  the  participation  of  Corinthian 
women  in  public  worship  of  which  Paul  decidedly  disapproved,  that 
is,  their  praying  and  prophesying  with  unveiled  heads.  This  was 
allowed  by  the  Greeks  in  their  worship  (see  Meyer's  Commentary 
on  First  Corinthians  11 : 5),  and  hence  it  was  perfectly  natural  that 
the  Greek  converts  retained  the  custom.  But  it  was  contrary  to  the 
practice  of  the  synagogue,  in  which  women  were  veiled,  though  they 
did  not  take  part  in  the  service.  Paul  may  have  been  prejudiced 
against  the  custom  of  the  Greek  women  because  of  his  training  in  the 
synagogue.  But  his  arguments  against  it  were  general  in  character. 
He  claimed  that  it  showed  a  lack  of  subordination  to  man  and  also 
that  it  was  contrary  to  nature,  for  nature  by  giving  women  long  hair 
indicates  that  her  head  should  be  covered.  One  can  not  blame 
the  Corinthian  women  if  they  failed  to  be  convinced  by  these  argu- 
ments. But  here,  as  in  so  many  other  cases,  we  do  not  know  what 
effect  Paul's  directions  had. 

§113.  Spiritual  Gifts,  especially  Prophecy  and  Speaking  with 
Tongues  (Glossolaly). — No  feature  of  the  religious  life  of  the  Cor- 
inthians stirred  Paul  more  deeply  than  that  of  their  spiritual  gifts 
(char isms).  There  appears  to  have  been  among  them  a  singular 
wealth  of  manifestations  which  they  attributed  to  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  was  seen  in  the  gatherings  for  public  worship,  where  one  con- 
tributed an  original  psalm,  another  some  teaching,  a  third  a  revela- 

I  For  other  explanations  see  Findlay  in  The  Expositor's  Greek  Testament,  Vol. 
II,  p.  914. 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH    AT   CORINTH  165 

tion,  yet  another  spoke  in  a  tongue,  and  another  had  the  gift  of  inter- 
preting tongues.  Nor  does  this  Hst  exhaust  the  spiritual  marifes- 
tations  in  the  Corinthian  church.  One  man  was  distinguished  for 
his  remarkable  faith,  another  had  the  gift  of  healing,  a  third  wrought 
miracles,  a  fourth  prophesied,  and  another  could  discern  spirits.  It 
is  not  strange  that  in  this  wealth  of  spiritual  activities  there  was 
sometimes  doubt  whence  they  came.  In  their  letter  to  Paul,  the 
Corinthians  asked  how  they  could  recognize  the  Spirit,  and  he  in  his 
reply  gave  them  a  very  general  practical  test  (i  Cor.  12:3). 

It  is  plain  that  the  "spiritual"  gifts  of  the  Corinthian  believers 
were  not  altogether  for  their  spiritual  good.  They  promoted  pride 
and  an  unspiritual  comparing  of  gift  with  gift,  as  though  there  were 
many  Holy  Spirits,  one  working  in  this  manner  and  another  in  that. 
They  also  rendered  the  public  gatherings  for  worship  disorderly, 
for  one  was  apt  to  assume  that  his  special  communication  was  of 
more  importance  than  his  brother's,  and  hence  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  interrupt  his  brother. 

The  lack  of  a  sane  and  spiritual  estimate  of  the  gifts  was  particu- 
larly shown  in  the  fact  that  few  cared  to  prophesy  (i.  e.,  teach), 
but  many  desired  to  speak  with  tongues.  Now  this  speaking  with 
tongues  was  an  inarticulate  utterance  of  emotion,  wholly  meaning- 
less without  an  interpreter.  The  speaker  was  beside  himself;  his 
understanding  was  unfruitful.  To  outsiders  he  appeared  like  a 
mad  man.  Paul  considered  it  childish  that  the  Corinthians  were  so 
eager  to  have  this  gift,  the  most  spectacular  of  all,  but  also  the  one 
of  least  practical  value.  He  wished  them  rather  to  cultivate  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  or  better  still,  to  cultivate  love  (cf.  Gal.  5:22,  23), 
for  Paul  did  not  think  of  the  Spirit  as  specially  manifest  in  strange 
or  supernatural  works,  but  rather  as  the  Spirit  of  the  new  life  through- 
out (cf.  Wood,  The  Spirit  of  God  in  Biblical  Literature,  pp. 
203-6). 

§114.  Denial  of  the  Resurrection. — The  most  important  doc- 
trinal feature  of  the  Corinthian  church  was  a  denial  of  the  resur- 
rection. How  general  this  was  we  can  not  learn  from  Paul's  letter. 
He  simply  says  there  were  "some"  (rti^e?)  among  his  readers 
who  held  this  view.  It  is  most  unfortunate  that  we  do  not  know 
more  fully  what  these  skeptical  Christians  thought  on  the  subject 


l66  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

of  the  resurrection.  Did  they  deny  the  immortaHty  of  the  soul  ? 
Did  they  say  that  the  gospel  was  good  only  for  this  life  ?  Or  did 
they  simply  deny  a  resurrection  of  the  material  body,  but  hold  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  ?  Were  they  influenced  by  the  philosophy 
of  the  Stoics,  who  believed  in  the  soul  but  denied  its  conscious  exist- 
ence after  death,  or  by  the  philosophy  of  the  Epicureans  who  denied 
the  existence  of  the  soul  altogether,  or  by  the  philosophy  of  Plato 
who  taught  that  the  soul  is  immortal  ? 

They  evidently  admitted  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  (i  Cor.  15:12), 
and  presumably  in  the  form  in  which  Paul  had  taught  it.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  as  though  they  must  have  admitted  that  man,  or  at 
least  a  good  man,  may  have  a  conscious  life  after  death.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  Paul  speaks  as  though  their  doctrine  were  dangerous 
to  good  morals  (i  Cor.  15:33),  and  as  though  it  lessened  one's  in- 
terest in  the  work  of  the  Lord  (i  Cor.  15:58),  which  statements 
seem  to  imply  that  their  denial  of  the  resurrection  was  understood 
by  Paul  to  involve  a  denial  also  of  immortality.  And  Paul  himself, 
moreover,  did  not  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  material  body. 
What  is  raised,  he  says,  is  not  flesh  and  blood;  it  is  not  material, 
but  spiritual.  If,  then,  the  skeptical  Corinthians  merely  denied  a 
physical  resurrection,  they  might  still  have  been  in  substantial  agree- 
ment with  Paul ;  but  his  language  does  not  encourage  us  to  believe 
that  this  was  the  case. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  seems  probable  that  those  among 
the  Corinthian  believers  who  said  that  there  is  no  resurrection  were 
at  least  skeptical  on  the  subject  of  immortality,  if  they  did  not  posi- 
tively afftrm  that  death  ends  all.  They  were  virtually  of  the  same 
mind  with  the  people  of  the  neighboring  city  of  Athens  who  mocked 
at  the  thought  of  a  resurrection  (Acts  17:32).  On  what  grounds  the 
Corinthian  believers  set  aside  the  doctrine  of  resurrection  we  do  not 
know.  It  is  suggested  by  i  Cor.  15:35  that  they  considered  it  irra- 
tional, but  this  may  have  been  affirmed  by  them  of  physical  resur- 
rection only.  It  is  highly  suggestive  that  they  accepted  the  proof 
which  Paul  gave  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  Their  position  would 
have  been  immeasurably  strengthened  could  they  have  shown  good 
reason  for  rejecting  that  proof.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was 
even   questioned   by   them.      Paul's   entire   argument    rests  on   the 


LIFE    OF    THE    CHURCH   AT    CORINTH  167 

assumption  that  his  readers  agree  with  him  in  regard  to  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus. 

§  115.  Sacred  Ordinances. — We  complete  our  survey  of  the  inner 
life  of  the  Corinthian  church  with  some  reference  to  their  observance 
of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 

Paul  had  treated  baptism  as  a  matter  of  secondary  importance 
while  laboring  in  Corinth,  as  he  did  elsewhere.  He  was  not  sent 
to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gospel  (i  Cor.  1:17).  He  had  indeed, 
baptized  Crispus  and  Gaius,  also  the  household  of  Stephanas,  but 
the  baptism  of  the  rest  of  his  converts  had  been  left  to  other  hands. 

After  Paul  went  away,  the  Corinthians  came  to  attach  greater 
significance  to  baptism.  This  is  evident  from  the  custom  of  being 
baptized  for  the  dead,  to  which  we  have  incidental  allusion.  It 
appears  that  certain  Corinthian  believers  received  the  rite  of  baptism 
on  behalf  of  their  departed  friends,  who  of  course  had  not  been  bap- 
tized, who,  indeed,  may  have  died  before  Paul  came  to  Corinth. 
Since  there  were  no  officers  in  the  Corinthian  church,  no  elder  or 
deacon,  we  must  suppose  that  the  rite  was  administered  either  by 
the  head  of  the  family  or  by  some  prominent  member  of  the  church 
like  Stephanas.  Now  this  practice  obviously  involved  pecuUar  and 
utterly  un-Pauline  conceptions  of  baptism.  It  would  not  have  oc- 
curred to  people  to  be  baptized  for  their  dead  friends  if  they  had  not 
believed  that  the  rite  was  in  itself  efficacious,  a  saving  ordinance. 
The  power  or  virtue  of  it  was  also  thought  of  as  transferable  from 
one  person  to  another,  and  even  from  the  living  to  the  dead.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  rite  had  come  to  be  thought  of  in  a  most  unspiritual 
manner,  as  being  little  more  than  a  superior  sort  of  magic.  The 
incidental  way  in  which  Paul  alludes  to  the  practice  may  indicate 
that  it  was  as  yet  only  an  exceptional  phenomenon  in  Corinth. 

The  method  of  observing  the  Lord's  Supper  in  Corinth  affords 
a  startling  proof  of  the  crass  immaturity  and  unspirituality  of  the 
church.  In  the  first  place,  the  common  meal  with  which  the  Supper 
was  associated  appears  to  have  been  the  important  thing,  and  little 
thought  was  given  to  the  Supper  itself.  But  even  this  common  meal 
was  kept  in  an  utterly  unbrotherly  and  un-Christian  manner.  It 
was  not  eaten  in  common,  with  any  regard  for  its  symbolic  character 
its  illustration  of  the  truth  of  Christian  fellowship,  but  it  was  like 


1 68  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

any  other  meal  of  the  day,  an  eating  and  drinking  to  satisfy  the  crav- 
ings of  appetite.  Each  had  regard  to  his  own  hunger  and  thirst. 
Some  of  the  more  prosperous  members  drank  to  excess,  and  some 
of  the  poor  went  away  from  the  gathering  hungry.  In  what  manner 
these  people  afterward  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper  we  are  not  told. 
As  they  ate  in  separate  groups,  and  at  different  times,  we  may  sup- 
pose that  they  partook  of  the  symbolical  bread  and  wine  in  the  same 
fashion.  From  the  fact  that  Paul  gave  them  again  in  his  letter  an 
account  of  the  institution  of  the  Supper,  it  may  be  inferred  with 
much  probability  that  their  observance  was  seriously  defective.  This 
is  also  evident  from  the  circumstance  that  Paul  thought  of  the  cases 
of  sickness  and  death  in  the  Corinthian  church  as  a  divine  judgment 
caused  by  their  profanation  of  the  Supper.  We  must,  therefore, 
suppose  not  only  that  the  common  meal  was  kept  in  an  unbecoming 
way,  but  also  that  the  memorial  celebration  of  the  Lord's  death  Avas 
practically  emptied  of  its  meaning. 

As  to  the  time  when  the  members  of  the  church  in  Corinth  met 
for  the  Lord's  Supper  we  get  no  certain  information  from  the  letter. 
When  speaking  of  the  collection  for  the  saints  in  Jerusalem,  Paul 
assumed  that  the  church  met  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  (i  Cor. 
16:2),  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Supper  was  a  part  of  the  service  at 
this  meeting.  It  was  perhaps  in  the  evening,  as  was  the  meeting  in 
Troas  at  which  the  Supper  was  celebrated  (Acts  20:7),  the  time 
when  the  members  were  naturally  most  free  from  business  cares. 
The  language  of  Paul  indicates  that  the  Supper  was  observed  at 
each  meeting  (i  Cor.  11:20). 

§116.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Name  some 
prominent  Jews  and  Romans  in  the  Corinthian  church.  (2)  What 
inference  regarding  the  constituency  of  the  church  may  be  drawn 
from  the  character  of  the  city  ?  (3)  What  was  the  social  and  finan- 
cial standing  of  the  membership  of  the  church.  (4)  What  indica- 
tions have  we  of  the  size  of  the  Corinthian  church  ?  (5)  What  was 
the  condition  with  regard  to  organization  ? 

(6)  How  many  parties  were  there  in  the  Corinthian  church,  and 
what  were  their  watchwords  ?  (7)  Describe  the  origin  of  the  parties 
of  Paul  and  Apollos.     (8)  What  was  probably  the  character  of  the 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCH    AT   CORINTH  169 

Cephas  party  ?  (9)  Where  do  we  find  the  leaders  of  the  Christ  party 
described?  (10)  Why  is  there  so  little  about  them  in  the  first  letter? 
(11)  What  did  the  leaders  claim  for  themselves  ?  (12)  How  did  they 
work  against  Paul?  (13)  What  effect  did  Paul's  letters  have  on 
the  party  spirit  in  Corinth? 

(14)  What  was  the  moral  condition  of  Corinth?  (15)  What  par- 
ticular form  of  gentile  immorality  soon  appeared  in  the  church  ? 
(16)  How  did  the  church  regard  the  case  of  incest?  (17)  How  is 
their  attitude  toward  it  to  be  explained?  (18)  What  evidence  is 
there  that  Paul  had  a  hard  struggle  to  carry  his  point  in  this  matter  ? 
(19)  What  was  the  root  of  litigiousness  among  the  Corinthian  be- 
lievers ? 

(20)  What  tendency  of  thought  regarding  marriage  did  Christian- 
ity produce  in  Corinth?  (21)  What  questions  regarding  it  had  the 
Corinthian  believers  sent  to  Paul?  (22)  What  did  he  say  on  the 
general  principle  ?  How  did  he  justify  his  view  ?  (23)  What  did 
he  say  regarding  cases  where  either  husband  or  wife  was  an  un- 
believer ? 

(24)  What  two  views  were  held  at  Corinth  regarding  sacrificial 
meat  ?  (25)  How  did  the  majority  feel  in  regard  to  its  use  ?  (26) 
What  fundamental  principle  did  Paul  lay  down  to  guide  his  converts  ? 

(27)  Describe  the  case  of  a  Christian  at  dinner  wdth  an  unbeliever. 

(28)  What  was  the  place  of  w^omen  in  public  worship  in  Corinth  ? 

(29)  Did  Paul  seek  to  narrow  this  liberty  ?  (30)  What  did  he  object 
to  in  the  matter  of  woman's  dress  in  public  worship,  and  why  ? 

(31)  What  spiritual  gifts  were  found  in  the  Corinthian  church? 
(32)  How  did  the  wealth  of  gifts  w^ork  injury  ?  (t,^)  What  gift  was 
most  sought  ?  (34)  Describe  this  gift.  (35)  How  did  the  Corinth- 
ians expect  the  Spirit  to  manifest  itself  ? 

(36)  What  was  Paul's  view  on  this  point  ?  (37)  What  important 
doctrinal  error  was  there  in  the  Corinthian  church  ?  (38)  How 
widely  was  it  held  ?  (39)  What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that 
those  who  denied  the  resurrection  did  not  believe  in  immortality? 
(40)  How  did  they  regard  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  ? 

(41)  How  did  Paul  regard  baptism  in  comparison  with  preaching 
the  gospel?  (42)  What  practice  arose  in  the  church  of  Corinth  in 
reference  to  the  dead  ?     (43)  What  conception  of  baptism  did  this 


170  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

practice  imply  ?  (44)  How  was  the  common  meal  observed  in  the 
Corinthian  church  ?  (45)  How  did  they  observe  the  Lord's  Supper  ? 
(46)  What  proofs  are  there  that  the  Supper  had  been  emptied  of  its 
meaning  ?  (47)  What  is  probable  regarding  the  time  of  the  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  (48)  Is  there  any  party  spirit  in  the  church 
of  today  like  that  which  we  see  in  Corinth  ?  (49)  Is  Paul's  method 
of  dealing  with  the  party  spirit  of  value  now  ?  (50)  Has  the  church 
outgrown  gentile  immoralities?  (51)  Is  the  position  of  woman  in 
modern  church  work  in  line  with  Paul's  principles  ?  (52)  What  was 
there  in  a  meeting  of  Corinthian  believers  for  worship  that  you  think 
would  appeal  to  you  ? 

§  117.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature-. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  life  of  the  Corinthian  church,  having 
an  outline  somewhat  as  follows:  General  survey  of  the  church  as 
to  size,  organization,  and  character;  conspicuous  defects  of  the 
church;  prominent  questions  under  discussion;  description  of  a 
meeting  for  worship. 

2.  On  the  general  subject  of  organization  see: 

Hatch,  The  Organization  oj  the  Early  Christian  Churches,  and  Thatcher, 
A  Sketch  oj  the  History  oj  the  Apostolic  Church,  pp.  288-300. 

3.  On  the  parties  in  the  church  at  Corinth  see: 
Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  I,  pp.  325-33. 

4.  On  the  position  and  dress  of  women  in  Greece  read: 
Becker,  Charicles,  pp.  413-44,  462-98. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CHRISTIANITY   IN    ROME    AS    REFLECTED    IN    PAUL'S    LETTER 
TO  THE  ROMANS 

SYNOPSIS 

§ii8.    Paul  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia.         Acts  20:1-3;  2  Cor.  2:12,  13;  7:5-16; 

Acts    19:22;    2    Cor.    9:2;     I   Cor. 

16:1;  2  Cor.  8:6,  18,  22 
§  1 19.    The  early  history  of  the  Roman  church. 
§  120.    Constituency  and  organization. 

§  121.    The  "strong"  and  the  "weak."  Rom.  14:1 — 15:13 

§  122.    Those  who  caused  divisions.  Rom.  16:17-20 

§  118.  Paul  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia.— Before  the  riot  of  Deme- 
trius occurred,  Paul  had  purposed  to  leave  Ephesus  in  the  near 
future.  Luke  tells  us  that  he  proposed  to  visit  Macedonia  and 
Achaia,  thence  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  after  that  to  Rome  and  Spain 
(Acts  19:21).  And  this  statement  is  supported  by  what  Paul  says 
in  the  letter  to  the  Romans,  written  within  a  few  months  after  he  left 
Ephesus,  namely,  that  he  had  longed  to  come  to  Rome  for  many 
years  (Rom.  1:13).  Thus  it  appears  that,  in  spite  of  his  exhausting 
labors  in  Ephesus  with  their  many  perils  and  sufferings,  he  was 
contemplating  longer  journeys  and  greater  undertakings  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  gospel. 

Prior  to  the  interruption  of  his  work  in  Ephesus,  Paul  had  sent 
Timothy  and  Erastus  into  Macedonia,  probably  in  the  interest  of 
the  collection  which  he  was  making  for  the  mother-church  in  Jeru- 
salem. This  had  been  in  progress  in  Achaia  for  about  a  year  (2 
Cor.  9:2),  and  was  also  being  made  in  Galatia  (i  Cor.  16:  i).  Paul's 
proposed  visit  to  Jerusalem  was  to  convey  this  collection.  At  the  pri- 
vate conference  in  Jerusalem,  Paul  had  been  urged  by  the  leaders  of 
the  church  to  remember  the  poor,  that  is,  the  poor  of  the  Jewish- 
Christian  church,  and  the  collection  which  he  was  about  to  com- 
plete as  he  left  Ephesus  was  the  first  response  to  that  request  of 
which  we  know.'     Paul  felt  that  it  was  quite  right  that  the  gentiles, 

•  Gal.  2 :  10  may  possibly  suggest  that  Paul  had  been  mindful  of  the  poor  in  Jeru- 
salem even  bejore  the  conference,  but  this  interpretation  on  the  whole  does  not  seem 
probable. 

171 


172  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

even  though  poor,  should  make  this  offering  because  it  was  from 
the  Jewish  believers  that  they  had  received  the  gospel  (Rom. 
15:27).  He  doubtless  hoped  also  that  this  practical  manifesta- 
tion of  a  Christian  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  gentile  behevers  would 
help  to  bind  more  closely  together  the  two  great  divisions  of  the 
church. 

As  Timothy  and  Erastus  seem  to  have  been  sent  into  Macedonia  to 
work  for  the  collection,  so  Titus  with  two  unnamed  persons  had 
charge  of  the  business  in  Corinth  (2  Cor.  8:6,  18,  22).  Paul  speaks 
of  having  given  orders  to  the  churches  of  Galatia  (i  Cor.  16:  i),  either 
when  he  was  last  there  before  coming  to  Ephesus,  or,  perhaps,  by 
letter  from  Ephesus,  and  this  order  may  have  covered  the  appoint- 
ment of  delegates  to  take  charge  of  the  funds.  Paul  did  not  receive 
any  of  this  money  into  his  own  hands,  nor  did  he  make  personal 
solicitation  for  it  except  by  letter.  From  various  circumstances  we 
infer  that  this  contribution  for  the  mother-church  was  large.  This 
is  suggested,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  fact  that  it  was  general,  coming 
from  the  churches  of  Galatia,  INIacedonia,  and  Achaia,  also  from 
the  province  of  Asia,  if  we  regard  Tychicus  and  Trophimus  as  dele- 
gates (Acts  21:29;  20:4).  It  was  being  gathered  through  a  period 
of  about  two  years,  and  was  conveyed  to  Jerusalem  by  a  company 
of  at  least  seven  men  besides  Paul.  And,  finally,  Paul  tells  us  that 
some  of  the  churches  which  contributed  gave  far  beyond  their  power 
(2  Cor.  8:3).     All  these  facts  suggest  a  large  offering. 

The  course  of  Paul  when  he  left  Ephesus  was  determined  not 
only  by  the  collection  but  also  by  anxiety  for  the  church  at  Corinth. 
Disquieting  reports  had  reached  him  in  Ephesus  which  had  occa- 
sioned two  letters  to  the  Corinthian  church,  one  of  which  is  no  longer 
extant  (i  Cor.  5:9),  while  the  other  is  our  first  letter  to  the  Corinth- 
ians. This  had  been  sent  by  Titus,  and  when  Paul  had  come  into 
Macedonia  he  waited  until  Titus  came  to  him,  reporting  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  in  Corinth.  He  had  expected  to  meet  Titus  in  Troas 
(2  Cor.  2:12),  but  failing  in  this  expectation  he  came  on  into  Mace- 
donia (2  Cor.  2: 13).  Here  at  length  he  met  him,  received  an  encour- 
aging report  about  the  Corinthian  church,  and  thereupon  wrote  to  it 
another  letter.  His  tour  among  the  Macedonian  churches  of  which 
Luke  speaks  (Acts  20:  2)  doubtless  followed  the  return  of  Titus,  for 


CHRISTIANITY    IN   ROME  1 73 

before  that  time  he  was  in  no  condition  to  visit  and  exhort  them 
(2  Cor.  2:13;     7:5-16). 

From  ^Macedonia  Paul  went  into  Achaia  where  he  spent  three 
months  (Acts  20:3).  He  was  entertained  by  Gaius,  in  whose  house 
he  probably  wrote  the  letter  to  the  Romans  (Rom.  16:23).  We  are 
not  told  how  Paul  spent  these  three  months,  but  considering  the 
state  of  the  church  in  the  recent  past,  it  is  most  hkely  that  he  de- 
voted himself  to  its  establishment  in  the  faith.  From  the  fact  that 
the  Jews  conspired  to  kill  him  we  may  infer  that  he  made  his  influ- 
ence felt  in  the  city  (Acts  20:3). 

§  119.  Early  History  of  the  Roman  Church. — The  fragmentariness 
of  our  records  of  the  apostolic  age  is  nowhere  more  strikingly  illus- 
trated than  in  the  fact  that  we  know  nothing  of  the  fortunes  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  metropolis  of  the  world  until  nearly  a  generation  after 
the  resurrection.  We  are  told  that  both  Jews  and  proselytes  from 
Rome  heard  the  preaching  of  Peter  in  Jerusalem  at  Pentecost  (Acts 
2 :  10),  and  it  is  altogether  probable  that  within  six  months  of  that 
time  some  of  those  Jews  and  proselytes  who  had  been  converted 
and  baptized  were  back  in  Rome.  During  the  26  years  that  elapsed 
before  Paul  wrote  to  the  Roman  believers,  there  were  doubtless  many 
Christians  from  the  East  who  visited  Rome,  both  in  the  way  of  busi- 
ness and  as  evangelists.  But  if  the  seed  of  the  gospel  was  not  planted 
in  Rome  by  some  who  had  been  in  Jerusalem  at  Pentecost,  it  is, 
almost  necessary  to  think  that  it  was  planted  there  soon  after  the 
martyrdom  of  Stephen,  when  messengers  went  forth  in  all  directions 
and  a  gentile  church  was  established  in  Antioch.  If  men  of  Cyrene 
in  North  Africa  were  drawn  to  Antioch,  so  doubtless  were  others 
drawn  to  Rome.  There  was  easy  and  constant  intercourse  between 
Rome  and  her  provinces,  and  no  people  were  more  given  to  travel 
than  the  Jews,  who  also  were  the  most  widely  scattered  of  all  the 
peoples  (cf.  Sanday  and   Headlam,  Commentary  on  Romans,  p.  418). 

We  must  suppose,  then,  that  there  had  been  disciples  of  Jesus  in 
Rome  for  a  period  of  twelve  or  fifteen  years  before  Paul's  letter,  if 
not  for  a  much  longer  time.  But  who  first  told  the  story  of  Jesus  in 
the  capital  of  the  world  and  gathered  the  first  little  circle  of  believers, 
whether  it  was  a  Jew  or  a  proselyte,  a  native  of  Rome  or  a  traveling 
evangehst,  no  one  can  tell.     This,  however,  appears  to  be  clear,  that 


174  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

the  Roman  believers  at  the  time  when  Paul  wrote  to  them  were 
Christians  of  his  type/  and  not  of  the  conservative  legalistic  sort  (see 
e.  g.,  Rom.  i:8,  ii,  12;    15:14). 

§120.  Constituency  and  Organization. — The  Christian  com- 
munity in  Rome  was  mainly  composed  of  gentiles.  If  its  original 
nucleus  had  been  Jews,  as  was  perhaps  the  case,  the  time  had  long 
since  passed  when  they  were  in  the  majority.  Paul  repeatedly  as- 
sumes that  his  readers  are  gentiles  (see  i :  13;  10:1;  II : 13,  28; 15:16), 
not  exclusively  but  predominantly.  When  he  said:  "I  speak  to 
men  who  know  the  law,"  and  again :  "Ye  were  made  dead  to  the  law 
through  the  body  of  Christ  "(7:1,  4),  he  doubtless  had  in  mind  the  Jew- 
ish element  among  his  readers.  This  element  is  represented  in  the  list 
of  greetings  by  Aquila  and  Herodion,  probably  also  by  Priscilla ; 
and  the  members  of  the  household  of  Aristobulus  who  are  saluted 
were  doubtless  Jews,  if  this  Aristobulus  was  the  grandson  of  Herod 
the  Great,  as  is  supposed.  Mary,  too,  may  have  been  a  Jewess, 
and  of  course  it  is  possible  that  some  of  the  persons  who  bore  Greek 
and  Roman  names  were  nevertheless  Jews.  Jesus  who  was  sur- 
named  Justus,  who  sent  greetings  in  the  letter  to  the  Colossians,  is 
more  likely  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  Roman  congregation  whom 
Paul  found  in  Rome  than  a  convert  whom  he  himself  made  there. 
As  far,  then,  as  we  may  judge  of  the  entire  company  of  believers  in 
,Rome  by  the  list  of  names  in  chapter  16,  we  may  rate  the  Jewish 
element  at  about  one-seventh  of  the  whole. 

The  Roman  believers  at  the  time  of  Paul's  letter  to  them  appear  to  have  had 
no  formal  organization  whatever.  Paul  does  not  address  them  as  a  church. 
There  is  no  trace  of  a  bishop  or  a  deacon.  This  was  found  to  be  the  case  in 
respect  to  the  church  at  Corinth  also,  but  it  is  more  remarkable  in  Rome  because 
the  gospel  had  been  planted  there  many  years.  There  seem  to  have  been  at 
least  three  companies  of  Rom.an  believers,  viz.,  those  who  met  in  the  home  of 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  those  who  were  associated  with  the  five  brethren,  Asyn- 
critus,  Phlegon,  Hermes,  Patrobas,  and  Hermas,  and,  finally,  the  group  of  whom 
Paul  mentions  Philologus,  Julia,  Nereus  and  his  sister,  and  Olympas.  The  fact 
that  there  were  three  Christian  circles  in  Rome  suggests  that  there  was  a  relatively 
large  number  of  believers  there,  more  than  could  meet  conveniently  in  one  home 
or  in  two.  In  each  of  these  three  groups  there  was  probably  one  person  and 
perhaps  more  than  one,  who  had  preponderating  influence  and  who  were  looked 
•  This  suggests  what  indeed  is  probable  on  other  grounds,  that  in  the  Roman 
congregition  there  were  converts  of  Paul  from  the  cities  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    ROME     ,  1 75 

up  to  as  leaders.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  probably  the  leaders  in  their  home- 
church,  Asyncritus  may  have  been  the  most  prominent  in  the  second  group, 
Philologus  and  Julia  in  the  third.  But  these  people,  if  they  were  the  leaders  of 
the  three  Roman  congregations,  were  such  solely  by  virtue  of  their  services  and 
gifts,  not  by  formal  appointment. 

Those  of  the  Roman  fellowship  whose  labor  for  the  gospel  in 
Rome  is  especially  mentioned  by  the  apostle  were  all  women,  with 
the  exception  of  Aquila.  Of  two  of  these  women — Mary  and  Persis 
— Paul  speaks  as  though  their  labor  belonged  chiefly  to  the  past,  and 
we  may  think  of  them  as  having  retired  from  active  work  on  account 
of  age  or  some  other  infirmity;  the  remaining  three — Priscilla,  Try- 
phena,  and  Tryphosa — were  still  in  active  service.  But  there  is  no 
suggestion  that  these  women  were  clothed  with  any  official  power 
by  the  Roman  believers.  They  were  simply  persons  whose  zeal 
and  ability  had  given  them  an  honorable  prominence  among  the 
brethren. 

§121.  The  "  Strong ' '  and  the  ' '  Weak. '  '—When  Paul  speaks  of  the 
''strong"  and  the  "weak"  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  we  are  con- 
strained to  see  local  coloring  in  his  words,  and  not  merely  an  echo  of 
past  experiences.  For,  so  far  as  we  know  from  earlier  letters,  he  had 
met  no  Christians  who,  for  conscience'  sake,  were  vegetarians,  as  were 
the  weak  in  Rome.  There  were  divisions  in  the  Corinthian  church 
on  the  matter  of  eating  sacrificial  meat,  but  we  hear  of  no  one  who 
was  opposed  to  eating  any  meat  whatsoever.  Since  then  we  find 
a  new  phenomenon  .  in  the  Roman  letter,  and  since  the  language 
of  Paul  is  just  such  as  we  should  expect  if  he  had  had  actual  facts 
of  the  Roman  church  in  mind,  we  ought  not  to  say  that  he  is 
generalizing. 

The  party  of  the  weak  in  Rome  w^re  a  minority  (14:1).  They 
ate  herbs  and  abstained  from  the  use  of  wine  (14:2,  21).  They 
also  esteemed  one  day  above  another  (14:5).  They  judged  those 
who  ate  flesh  and  drank  wine  and  esteemed  all  days  alike  (14:3). 
Now  as  the  Jews  were  not  forbidden  to  eat  flesh  or  to  drink  wine, 
we  are  probably  not  to  regard  the  weak  as  Jewish  Christians.  They 
were  gentiles  who  took  up  an  ascetic  position  with  reference  to  meat 
and  wine,  as  certain  Corinthians  had  done  with  reference  to  marriage. 
The  reasons  which  they  gave  for  their  view  are  scarcely  indicated. 


76 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


They  appear  to  have  regarded  meat  as  unclean  in  itself  (14:14), 
but  we  are  not  told  why.  The  reason  of  their  opposition  to  wine  is 
not  at  all  suggested.  Their  esteeming  one  day  above  another  was 
hardly  the  same  as  the  Jewish  regard  for  feast  days,  which  we  find 
among  the  Galatians  (Gal.  4:10).  This  was  simply  a  detail  of  the 
observance  of  the  law,  and  did  not  imply  that  the  particular  day 
was  in  itself  different  from  other  davs.     But  the  Roman  believers 


THE   INTERIOR    OF    AN  ITALIAN   HOUSE    OF    THE  FIRST    CENTURY    (POMPEII) 


who  are  styled  "weak"  appear  to  have  held  precisely  this  notion. 
The  "strong"  esteemed  all  days  alike  (14:5).  That,  of  course, 
does  not  mean  that  they  did  not  meet  for  worship  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week.  There  was  no  company  of  gentile  Christians,  so  far 
as  we  know,  who  did  not  keep  this  day  holy,  as  Jewish  Christians 
kept  the  Sabbath.  Therefore  the  statement  that  the  "strong"  in 
Rome  esteemed  all  days  alike  means  that  they  attached  no  peculiar 
sacredness  to  one  day  in  comparison  with  others,  x^ccordingly^ 
the  position  of  the  "weak"  was,  by  contrast,  that  peculiar  sacred- 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    ROME  1 77 

ness  does  attach  to  a  certain  day.  We  are  not  told  what  particular 
day  or  days  the  "weak"  esteemed;  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
regular  day  of  worship  was  included. 

§  122.  Those  Who  Caused  Divisions. — The  people  who  were  caus- 
ing divisions  in  the  Roman  church  when  Paul  wrote  are  described 
in  general  terms,  no  one  of  which  makes  it  plain  who  they  were. 
They  claimed  to  be  Christians;  they  used  smooth  and  fair  speech; 
their  doctrine  was  evil;  and  Paul  seems  to  refer  to  their  overthrow 
when  he  says  that  God  shall  bruise  "Satan"  under  the  feet  of  the 
faithful  shortly  (16:17-20).  All  these  characteristics  fit  the  juda- 
izers,  though  it  can  not  be  said  that  they  necessarily  require  us  to 
think  of  these  opponents  of  Paul.  Perhaps  the  most  illuminating 
term  in  the  description  is  "Satan."  This  appears  to  point  to  the 
judaizers  because,  in  the  first  place,  it  was  against  the  judaizers 
that  Paul  used  the  strongest  language  of  condemnation  (e.  g.,  Gal. 
1:8,  9;  5:12;  6:12,  13),  and  second,  he  called  the  Corinthian  juda- 
izers "messengers"  of  Satan. 

In  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  which  was  written  from  Rome, 
Paul  speaks  of  some  persons  who  were  preaching  Christ  of  envy  and 
strife,  thinking  thereby  to  raise  up  affliction  for  him  (Phil,  i :  15,  17), 
This  language  also  points  to  judaizers,  for  there  were  no  other  people 
'  who,  professing  to  be  Christians,  preached  in  opposition  to  Paul. 
This  Philippian  passage,  therefore,  is  an  argument  for  understand- 
ing Rom.    16:17-20  as  referring  to  judaizers. 

Finally,  the  doctrinal  portion  of  the  letter  to  the  Romans  seems  to 
imply  that  there  was  a  Jewish  propaganda  in  the  Roman  church. 
Had  not  Paul  known  that  there  were  judaizing  influences  at  work 
there,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  he  would  have  admitted  so  large  a 
controversial  element  into  his  letter.  He  would  hardly  have  done 
this  to  provide  for  a  possible  future  peril. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  this  controversial  element.  It  lies  on  the  sur- 
face in  many  places.  Why,  e.  g.,  should  Paul  prove  that  the  Jews  were  in  need  of 
salvation  by  faith  (chap.  2)  unless  there  were  those  in  Rome  who  were  insisting 
upon  the  necessity  of  works  of  the  law  ?  Why  should  he  argue  that  his  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  faith  "established"  the  law  unless  there  were  those  who  said  that 
it  made  the  law  of  none  effect  (3:31)  ?  Why,  in  a  letter  to  the  Romans,  should 
he  insist  upon  his  love  for  the  Jewish  people  unless  there  were  those  in  Rome 
who  said  that  he  was  a  renegade  and  no  true  Jew  (9:  i,  2;     10:  i)  ?     It  will  at 


178  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

least  be  admitted  that  such  passages  as  these  have  added  point  and  significance 
if  Paul  was  dealing  with  concrete  facts  and  not  indulging  in  abstract  generalities. 
Moreover,  all  other  letters  of  Paul  deal  with  local  conditions,  with  certain  definite 
questions  and  persons,  and  hence  there  is  a  presumption  that  this  was  the  case 
with  the  letter  to  Romans.  We  are  to  hold,  then,  that  those  who  were  causing  divi- 
sions in  Rome  were  none  other  than  Paul's  old  enemies  the  judaizers. 

§  123.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  When  did 
people  from  Rome  first  hear  the  gospel?  (2)  What  reasons  are 
there  for  thinking  that  the  Roman  church  must  have  been  founded 
as  early  at  least  as  44  A.  d.  ?  (3)  State  the  evidence  for  regarding 
that  church  as  essentially  gentile.  (4)  Hov^  large  a  Jewish  element 
might  we  infer  from  the  list  of  greetings  ?  (5)  How  many  centers 
does  the  Christian  community  in  Rome  appear  to  have  had?  (6) 
Whom  may  we  regard  as  the  leaders  of  these  circles  ?  (7)  Who  are 
greeted  by  Paul  as  prominent  in  Christian  service  in  Rome  ? 

(8)  Why  are  we  to  regard  the  passage  on  the  "strong"  and  the 
"weak"  as  reflecting  actual  conditions  in  the  Roman  church?  (9) 
Describe  the  weak.  (10)  Why  can  we  not  hold  them  to  have  been 
Jews?  (11)  How  did  their  esteem  for  days  differ  from  that  of  the 
Galatian   Christians  ? 

(12)  Describe  the  people  who  caused  divisions  in  the  Roman 
church  ?  (13)  What  reasons  are  there  for  considering  them  judaizers  ? 
(14)  What  is  the  bearing  of  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  on  this 
point?  (15)  What  bearing  upon  it  has  the  general  character  of  the 
letter  to  the  Romans? 

§124.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  origin  and  life  of  the  Church  at  Rome 
as  it  is  reflected  in  the  letter  to  the  Romans. 

2.  On  the  local  color  to  be  found  in  the  letter  to  the  Romans  read: 
Weizsiicker,     The     Apostolic    Age,    Vol.    II,    pp.     104;    also    Sandav     and 

Headlam  in  the  International  Critical  Commentary  on  Romans,  Introduction, 
pp.  xxxix-xliv. 

3.  Look  up  the  names  and  locations  of  all  individuals  mentioned 
bv  Paul  who  had  a  church  in  their  house. 


PART   IV 
THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PAUL'S  LAST  VISIT  TO  JERUSALEM 
SYNOPSIS 

§  125.  The  journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem.  Acts  20:4-21 :  16 

§126.  Paul's  reception  by  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  Acts  21:17-26 

§127.  Paul's  arrest  in  Jerusalem.  Acts  21:27-36 

§  128.  The  address  from  the  castle  stairs.  Acts  21:37 — 22:29 

§129.  Paul  before  the  Sanhedrin.  Acts  22:30 — 23:11 

§  130.  Paul's  removal  to  Caesarea.  Acts  23:12-35 

§  125.  The  Journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem. — The  discovery 
of  the  plot  of  the  Jews  changed  Paul's  plan  of  travel.  He  decided 
to  go  back  through  Macedonia  instead  of  taking  ship  for  Jerusalem 
from  Corinth.  According  to  Luke  there  were  at  least  seven  men  who 
accompanied  him  from  Corinth  (Acts  20: 4),  whom  we  are  to  regard  as 
delegates  of  the  churches  to  carry  the  collection  to  Jerusalem  (i  Cor. 
16:3,4;  Acts  21:29).  It  appears  then  that  these  men  had  gathered 
in  Corinth,  expecting  to  take  ship  there  for  Syria.  If  this  was  indeed 
the  case,  it  suggests  that  the  fact  which  occasioned  the  change  of 
plan  was  of  exceeding  gravity,  for  that  change  meant  that  all  the 
seven  were  to  retrace  their  steps,  some  of  whom  had  journeyed  several 
hundred  miles  to  reach  Corinth.  One  important  consequence  of 
Paul's  change  of  plan  was  that  Luke  was  added  to  the  company. 
This  addition  is  inferred  from  the  "we"  of  Acts  20:6.  The  narrative 
which  has  been  in  the  third  person  since  the  account  of  Paul's  work 
in  Philippi  now  continues  in  the  first  person.  Whether  Luke  went 
as  a  delegate  from  the  Philippian  church  does  not  appear. 

From  Philippi  Paul  and  Luke  seem  to  have  journeyed  alone  to 
Troas,  the  others  having  gone  on  ahead  for  some  unknown  reason. 
In  Troas,  where  Paul  had  desired  to  stop  for  a  time  when  he  left 
Ephesus  (2  Cor.  2:12),  and  where  there  was  now  a  company  of  be- 
lievers, he  and  his  fellow-travelers  tarried  a  week.  The  narrative 
of  this  visit  is  especially  interesting  because  of  its  reference  to  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Christians  of  Troas  and 
their  guests  met  for  this  on  Sunday  evening.     Paul  gave  an  address 


I02  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

which  lasted  until  midnight,  and  then  after  the  Supper  he  continued 
his  discourse  until  break  of  day.  This  observance  of  the  Supper, 
like  the  first,  took  place  in  an  upper  chamber  of  a  private  house,  and 
in  the  night.  The  incident  of  Eutychus,  who  went  to  sleep  under 
Paul's  preaching  and  fell  out  of  the  window,  we  would  gladly  have 
done  without  if  Luke  had  told  us  in  its  place  the  particular  manner 
in  which  they  observed  the  Supper,  or  what  Paul  said  as  they  took 
the  bread  and  wine. 

From  Troas  Paul  went  on  foot,  and  apparently  alone,  about 
twenty  miles,  to  Assos,  while  Luke  and  the  others  went  around  the 
Lectum  Promontory  by  ship.  Paul  met  the  ship  at  Assos,  and  then 
all  proceeded  together  to  Miletus,  the  metropolis  of  Ionia,  about 
thirty-five  miles  from  Ephesus,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ma^ander  River. 
Here  they  stopped  long  enough  to  have  a  meeting  with  the  elders  of 
the  Ephesian  church  whom  Paul  summoned  on  his  arrival.  From 
his  address  on  this  occasion  it  appears  that  the  apprehension  which 
he  had  felt  when  writing  from  Corinth  to  Rome  (Rom.  15:30,  31) 
had  become  deeper.  He  now  felt  that  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited 
him.  To  what  this  deepening  of  apprehension  was  due  we  do  not 
know.  It  may  have  come  simply  from  the  fact  that  he  was  drawing 
nearer  and  nearer  to  Jerusalem. 

From  Miletus  they  continued  their  journey  by  way  of  the  islands 
of  Cos  and  Rhodes  to  Patara  of  Lycia,  where  they  left  their  first 
ship  and  took  one  bound  for  the  Phoenician  coast.  Having  reached 
Tyre,  they  went  ashore  and  spent  a  week  with  the  Christian  com- 
munity of  that  city.  When  or  by  whom  this  Tyrian  church  was 
founded  we  do  not  know,  possibly  by  Paul  himself  (see  Gal  1:21). 
In  this  place  Paul,  who  presumably  had  told  his  friends  that  his 
mind  was  filled  with  dark  foreboding  in  regard  to  the  outcome  of  his 
journey,  was  besought  not  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  they  who  besought 
him  thought  that  they  had  the  sanction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  their 
counsel. 

After  a  pathetic  separation  from  the  Christians  of  Tyre,  Paul  and 
his  company  came  to  Ptolemais,  twenty  miles  further  south,  where 
they  stopped  one  day  and  saluted  the  brethren;  and  then  after  a  sail 
of  twenty-five  miles  they  reached  the  end  of  their  sea-voyage  at 
Caesarea.     Here  they  tarried  some  days  with  Philip  the  evangelist. 


Paul's  last  visit  to  Jerusalem  183 

It  is  possible  that  Paul's  arrival  in  Cassarea  was  reported  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  that  this  report  led  the  prophet  Agabus  to  go  down  to 
Caesarea  to  meet  Paul.  Doubtless  this  was  the  same  prophet  whom 
Paul  had  met  in  Antioch  in  the  year  44  a.  d.  He  now  assured  Paul 
that  the  Jews  would  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the  gentiles.  This 
dark  prophecy  led  the  companions  of  Paul  and  also  the  Christians 
of  Ca?sarea  to  urge  him  not  to  go  to  Jerusalem.  But  Paul  withstood 
their  entreaties  and  continued  his  journey,  it  having  been  arranged 
before  leaving  Caesarea  that  Paul  and  his  companions  should  lodge 
in  Jerusalem  with  a  Cypriote  Jew  by  the  name  of  Mnason. 

§126.  PauPs  Reception  by  the  Church  in  Jerusalem. — The 
account  which  Luke  gives  of  Paul's  reception  by  the  church  in  Jeru- 
salem is  disappointing.  It  does,  indeed,  say  that  the  brethren  re- 
ceived him  and  his  companions  gladly,  and  also  that  the  elders 
glorified  God  when  Paul  had  rehearsed  the  story  of  his  gentile  min- 
istry before  them;  but  there  is  no  word  about  the  offering  which  he 
had  long  been  gathering  and  which  the  brethren  of  various  pro- 
vinces had  now  brought  up  to  the  mother  church.  We  are  not  told 
whether  this  ministration  was  acceptable  to  the  saints,  whether  any 
expression  of  gratitude  was  sent  back  to  the  gentile  churches,  or 
whether  the  loving  service  tended  to  strengthen  the  bond  of  sym- 
pathy between  the  Jewish  and  gentile  believers.  It  is  suggestive 
of  coldness  that  the  Jerusalem  church  is  not  said  to  have  expressed 
any  sympathy  for  Paul  during  his  troubles. 

On  the  day  after  his  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  when  he  had  told  James 
and  the  elders  about  his  work  among  the  gentiles,  it  became  manifest 
that  he  was  regarded  with  suspicion  by  the  majority  of  believers. 
They  had  heard  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  teaching  the  foreign  Jews 
to  forsake  Moses,  and  it  is  plain  that  they  regarded  this  report  as 
true.  For  James  and  the  elders  at  once  proposed  that  he  should 
set  himself  right  with  the  church  by  the  public  performance  of  a 
levitical  ceremony.  This  step  would  have  been  unnecessary  had 
not  the  report  concerning  Paul  been  widely  accepted.  The  manner 
in  which  the  proposition  was  made  to  Paul  suggests  that  the  elders 
themselves  did  not  credit  the  report  and  expected  that  Paul  would 
disavow  it.  The  ceremony  which  they  wished  him  to  perform  was 
that  he  should  purify  himself  with  four  men  who  were  under  a  vow, 


1 84 


CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC   AGE 


and  thai  he  should  be  at  charges  for  their  release.  Paul  consented 
to  their  wish,  and  on  the  following  day  began  a  week's  participation 
with  the  four  men  in  the  ceremony  made  necessary  by  their  vow. 


V 


^1. 


D  D 


prtEfWfe 


COURT  OF  THE  GENTILES. 


..    «»TOi_jt* _"».■. .."I?!!! '.-■■ 


-     ^ 


ROYAL 


PORCH 


OPHEL  CATB 


PLAN    OK   HEROD'S  TEMPLE 
;From  Edersheim,  The  Temple  at  the  Time  oj  Christ] 


It  is  important  to  keep  clearly  in  view  the  aim  of  Paul  in  this  ceremonial  act, 
which  was  simply  to  declare  the  report  untrue  that  he  had  taught  the  Jews  to  forsake 
the  law  of  Moses.  He  had  not  done  this  thing.  He  had  sought  to  lead  Jews 
to  faith  in  Jesus,  and  he  had  taught  that  salvation  was  by  grace,  not  by  works 
of  the  law;  but  he  had  not  gone  about  denouncing  Moses,  or  teaching  that  Jews 
ought  not  to  regard  Jewish  rites.  He  himself  had  observed  a  Jewish  rite  in 
circumcizing  Timothy,  and  again  in  shaving  his  head  in  Ceuchreae  because  of  a 
vow;    but  he  had  not  ob.served  these  rites  as  in  any  sense  necessary  to  salvation. 


PAUL'S    LAST    VISIT   TO    JERUSALEM  1 85 

His  act  in  Jerusalem  was  not  an  admission  that  he  considered  the  observance 
of  the  Mosaic  law  necessary  even  for  a  Jew.  It  was  at  most  an  admission  that 
the  observance  of  these  rites  might  be  a  means  of  grace. 

It  appears,  then,  that  Paul  could  take  part  in  this  ceremony  in  Jerusalem 
with  a  good  conscience.  It  was  in  accordance  with  his  principle  "to  become  all 
things  to  all  men."  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  his  act  might  easily  be  misunder- 
stood. It  was  misunderstood  by  the  elders  themselves  if  they  regarded  it  as  a 
proof  that  Paul  continued  to  be  an  observer  of  all  the  requirements  of  the  law. 
It  was  misunderstood  by  believing  Jews  in  general  if  they  thought,  as  was  per- 
fectly natural  for  them  to  do,  that  Paul,  in  keeping  this  ordinance,  thereby  con- 


A  TABLET  FROM    HEROD'S  TEMPLE 
Forbidding  Gentiles  to  go  beyond  thfe  Court  of  the  Gentiles  on  pain  of  death 

fessed  that  he  held  the  common  Jewish  view  of  its  importance.  But  of  course 
the  fact  that  his  deed  was  liable  to  be  misunderstood  was  not  a  sufficient  reason 
why  he  should  refuse  to  perform  it. 

§  127.  Paul's  Arrest  in  Jerusalem. — What  effect  Paul's  conces- 
sion had  on  the  Jewish  believers  we  are  not  told.  The  time  appointed 
for  the  purification  had  not  passed  before  certain  unbelieving  Jews 
from  Asia,  perhaps  old  enemies  of  Paul  from  Ephesus,  saw  him  in 
the  temple,  and  raised  a  tumult  against  him.  The  charges  against 
him  were,  first,  that  he  taught  men  everywhere  to  disregard  the  law, 
and  second,  that  he  had  defiled  the  temple.  The  former  charge  is 
not  essentially  different  from  the  report  that  was  in  general  circula- 


1 86  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

tion  in  Jerusalem,  and  which  wc  considered  in  the  last  paragraph. 
The  second  charge  had,  according  to  Luke,  no  other  foundation  than 
the  fact  that  Trophimus  the  Ephesian  had  been  seen  in  the  city  in 
company  with  Paul.  There  may  have  been  other  grounds  than  this, 
but  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  Paul  took  an  uncircumcized  man 
into  the  temple.  He  knew  the  law  that  a  gentile  who  should  go 
beyond  a  certain  barrier'  should  be  put  to  death  (see  Jewish  War,  5, 
5.  2;  6.  2.  4),  and  it  would  have  been  both  sinful  and  foolhardy  for 
him  to  transgress  this  law.  There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
that  he  did. 

But  the  Jewish  attachment  to  the  temple  was  fanatical,  and  the 
multitude  did  not  ask  for  evidence  in  support  of  the  charges  against 
Paul.  They  at  once  dragged  him  out  into  the  court  of  the  gentiles, 
and  there  sought  to  kill  him.  But  he  was  saved  by  the  prompt  action 
of  the  Roman  captain,^  Claudius  Lysias,  who  was  in  command  of 
the  temple  guard  stationed  in  the  tower  of  Antonia  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  temple  {Antiq.,  15.  11,  4;  Jewish  War,  5.  5.  8).  This 
guard  is  spoken  of  as  a  "  cohort,"  which  was  the  tenth  of  a  legion  and 
so  numbered  from  five  to  six  hundred  men.  The  intervention  of 
Lysias  was  not  out  of  sympathy  for  Paul,  but  only  because  he  feared 
a  tumult.  He  thought  that  Paul  might  be  that  Egyptian  who  had 
headed  a  revolt  against  the  Roman  rule,  and  who,  when  his  followers 
had  been  cut  down  or  scattered  by  Felix,  had  escaped  (Antiq.,  20, 
8.  6).  Lysias  commanded  that  Paul  should  be  bound  with  two 
chains,  and  be  brought  into  the  castle. 

§128.  The  Address  from  the  Castle  Stairs. — When  Paul,  sur- 
rounded by  soldiers  and  separated  somewhat  from  his  foes,  was  being 
carried  up  the  stairs  of  Antonia,  he  asked  and  secured  from  the  cap- 
tain permission  to  speak  to  the  people.  He  beckoned  with  his  hand, 
on  which  there  was  now  a  chain,  and  the  excited  crowd  before  him 
became  quiet.  Then  he  set  out  to  explain  and  defend  his  course 
as  a  preacher  of  Jesus  the  Messiah.     He  told  of  his  early  Pharisaic 

"  One  of  the  marble  tablets  bearing  this  notice  to  the  gentiles  has  been  discovered, 
and  facsimiles  may  be  seen  in  the  museums,  e.  g.,  in  the  Haskell  Oriental  Museum  in 
Chicago.     A  cut  of  it  is  shown  on  p.  185. 

'While  Judea  was  under  Roman  pi-ocurators,  Roman  troops  were  station^-d  in 
Jerusalem  to  maintain  the  authority  of  C;csar.  Other  troops  were  located  in  Ca?sarea, 
the  official  residence  of  the  procurator. 


Paul's  last  visit  to  Jerusalem  187 

training  and  his  hostility  toward  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  then  of  his 
experience  on  the  way  to  Damascus  and  of  the  Lord's  commission 
to  him  to  go  to  the  gentiles.  At  this  point,  as  he  spoke  of  his  mission 
to  the  gentile  world,  his  audience  interrupted  him.  They  cried  out 
that  he  was  not  fit  to  Hve — a  Jew  who  claimed  that  the  Messiah  had 
come  and  had  sent  him  to  set  up  the  messianic  kingdom  among  the 
gentiles!     This  thought  was  intolerable  to  them. 

When  the  tumult  broke  out  afresh,  the  captain  commanded  that 
Paul  be  taken  into  the  castle  and  scourged.  He  hoped  in  this  way 
to  ascertain  the  prisoner's  offense.  Evidently  he  had  not  understood 
Paul's  address,  which  was  in  Aramaic,  for  if  he  had  known  what 
Paul  had  said  he  would  have  seen  that  the  cause  of  the  tumult  was 
purely  religious.  By  the  declaration  of  his  Roman  citizenship  Paul 
escaped  the  scourging,  and  also  secured  a  certain  power  over  the 
captain,  who  had  exceeded  his  authority  in  commanding  Paul  to  be 
scourged  and  was  now  "afraid."  Thus  matters  stood  at  the  close 
of  the  day,  and  Paul  was  kept  a  prisoner  in  the  fortress. 

Our  report  of  the  address  from  the  castle  stairs  may  be  attributed 
directly  to  the  author  of  the  "  we-passages,"  that  is,  to  Luke.  The 
numerous  graphic  details  in  the  setting  of  the  address  favor  the  view 
that  the  narrative  was  by  an  eye-witness.  And  the  impression  of 
Paul  which  these  details  give  us  is  in  harmony  with  what  we  know 
of  his  character  and  career.  For  they  present  a  man  of  marvelous 
self-possession,  quickness  of  thought,  and  power  of  adaptation;  a 
man  so  generous  that  he  could  address  his  would-be  murderers  with- 
out an  allusion  to  their  attempt  on  his  life,  and  so  self -forgetful  that 
his  own  peril  did  not  seem  to  come  into  his  mind  when  there  was  an 
opportunity  to  work  for  his  Lord. 

§  12^.  Paul  before  the  Sanhedrin. — The  next  day  after  the  attempt 
on  Paul's  life,  the  captain  brought  him  before  the  Sanhedrin,  hoping 
to  find  out  in  this  way  why  he  was  accused.  But  in  this  hope  he  was 
disappointed.  There  was  no  examination  of  Paul;  even  the  form 
of  a  trial  was  not  reached.  The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  were 
stirred  up  against  each  other,  and  the  dissension  became  so  violent 
that  the  captain,  fearing  lest  Paul  should  be  torn  in  pieces,  had  him 
brought  back  into  the  castle. 


l88  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

The  events  of  this  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrin  are  not  free  from  difficulty. 
Paul  had  apparently  begun  his  defense,  and  having  made  the  statement  that 
he  had  acted  conscientiously  in  all  that  he  had  done,  the  high  priest,'  regarding 
this  remark  as  worthy  of  censure,  commanded  those  by  Paul  to  smite  him  on  the 
mouth.  Paul,  stung  by  the  injustice  of  the  priest,  replied  to  this  command  with 
words  fatted  to  make  the  trouble  greater  rather  than  to  diminish  it.  He  called 
Ananias  a  whited  wall,  accused  him  of  acting  against  the  law,  and  threatened 
him  with  the  judgment  of  God.  When  Paul  was  called  to  account  for  this  dis- 
respectful speech  to  the  high  priest,  he  pleaded  ignorance.  He  said  he  did  not 
know  that  the  one  who  had  addressed  him  was  the  high  priest.  This  implies 
that  he  would  not  have  spoken  as  he  had,  if  he  had  known  with  whom  he  was  dealing. 
It  is  not  an  admission  that  his  words  were  in  themselves  unjustifiable,  but  only 
that  the  man  who  had  ordered  him  to  be  punished  was  shielded  by  his  office. 
No  explanation  of  Paul's  ignorance  regarding  the  speaker  is  satisfactory.  It 
has  been  attributed  to  imperfect  eyesight,  or  the  language  has  been  regarded 
as  ironical,  or  the  difficulty  has  been  attributed  to  a  misunderstanding  on  the  part 
of  the  author  of  Acts. 

The  second  event  of  the  meeting  is  not  less  difficult  of  explanation  than  the 
first.  We  are  told  that  when  Paul  perceived  (we  are  not  told  how)  that  one  part 
were  Sadducees  and  the  other  Pharisees,  he  cried  out  that  he  was  a  Pharisee  and 
was  on  trial  because  of  his  belief  in  the  resurrection.  It  sounds  strange  at  first 
to  hear  the  Christian  Paul  saying:  "I  am  a  Pharisee;"  but  the  strangeness  dis- 
appears very  largely  when  we  remember  the  situation:  it  was  said  in  relation  to 
the  Sadducees  and  their  faith.  On  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  which  Paul 
said  had  led  to  his  trial,  he  classed  himself  with  the  Pharisees.  It  is  plain  that 
he  could  not  have  done  otherwise.  But  how  could  he  say  that  he  was  on  trial 
because  of  his  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ?  He  had  been  seized  in  the 
temple  as  one  who  sought  to  destroy  the  Jewish  religion,  and  who  had  defiled  the 
temple.  His  attitude  toward  the  resurrection  had  been  in  no  wise  the  cause  of 
his  arrest.  What  then  did  he  mean  ?  It  is  possible,  as  Knowling  says  in  view 
of  vs.  9  (  see  The  Expositor'' s  Greek  Testament,  "Commentary  on  Acts")  that 
Paul  had  narrated  his  experience  on  the  way  to  Damascus.  If  this  was  the  case, 
then  the  difficulty  in  explaining  Paul's  word  about  the  resurrection  may  be  due, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  to  Luke's  condensation  of  what  was  said.  Vs.  ii  has  the 
same  suggestion  to  make,  for  this  speaks  of  some  testimony  which  Paul  had 
borne  to  Jesus;  but  no  such  testimony  is  found  in  Luke's  report.  Perhaps, 
then,  a  fuller  record  of  what  was  said  might  clear  up  the  difficulty  of  Paul's  word. 
As  it  stands,  it  is  not  intelligible. 

§  130.  Paul's  Removal  to  Caesarea. — Twice  Paul  had  been  saved 
by  Claudius  Lysias,  and  now  a  third  deliverance  followed  close  upon 

I  Ananias  was  made  high  priest  by  Herod,  king  of  Chalcis,  between  47  and  59  a.  d. 
He  was  wealthy  and  covetous.  .See  Schurcr,  The  Jewish  People,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I, 
p.  200. 


PAUL  S    LAST    VISIT   TO    JERUSALEM  1 89 

these.  On  the  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrin,  more  than 
forty  Jews  formed  a  plot  to  assassinate  Paul.  This  plot  may  well 
have  originated  with  those  Jews  from  Asia  whose  attempt  to  kill 
Paul  in  the  temple  had  been  baffled  by  the  Roman  soldiers.  The 
plan  of  the  conspirators  was  to  have  Paul  brought  again  before  the 
Sanhedrin,  and  as  he  was  being  conducted  to  the  place  of  meeting 
they  were  going  to  fall  .upon  him  and  kill  him.  x^pparently  they 
anticipated  that  he  would  be  sent  with  a  very  small  escort. 

This  plot  was  frustrated  through  a  nephew  of  Paul,  who,  having 
heard  of  it,  went  to  Antonia  and  reported  it  to  him,  and  then,  at 
his  request,  reported  it  also  to  the  chief  captain.  He  at  once 
ook  steps  to  have  Paul  removed  to  Caesarea,  the  residence  of  the 
procurator.  This  course  was  more  than  the  immediate  danger 
called  for.  The  cohort  in  Antonia  could  doubtless  protect  Paul  from 
the  conspirators.  But  the  captain  knew  that  the  prisoner  would  be 
safer  in  Caesarea  than  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  may  easily  have  seen  that 
as  long  as  he  remained  in  Jerusalem,  there  would  be  a  liability  of 
fanatical  outbreaks  on  his  account.  Therefore  he  wisely  decided 
to  send  him  at  once  to  Felix, 

An  escort  of  four  hundred  foot-soldiers  and  seventy  mounted 
men  was  made  ready,  and  at  the  third  hour  of  the  night,  when  the 
streets  would  be  free,  they  set  out  with  their  prisoner.  There  was  no 
time  for  him  to  see  his  friends  and  to  say  farewell.  It  is  not  improb- 
able that  Luke,  or  some  other  one  of  Paul's  companions,  was  allowed 
to  go  with  him,  as  was  the  case  later  w^hen  he  set  out  for  Rome.  The 
entire  escort  went  as  far  as  Antipatris,  forty-two  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem, which  they  probably  reached  the  next  afternoon,  and  for  the 
remaining  twenty-six  miles  to  Caesarea  Paul  was  guarded  only  by 
the  horsemen.  The  letter  which  was  sent  with  the  prisoner  declared 
that  he  had  done  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds,  and  that  the 
accusers  had  been  charged  to  present  their  case  against  him  before 
the  governor  in  Caesarea. 

§131.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  When  Paul  was 
about  to  start  from  Corinth  for  Jerusalem  how  did  he  change  his 
route  and  why  ?  (2)  For  what  purpose  did  he  go  to  Jerusalem,  and 
who  went  with  him  ?  (3)  How  long  had  he  been  engaged  in  collect- 
ing money  for  the  poor  in  Jerusalem  ?     What  churches  had  con- 


IQO  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

tribiitc'd  ?  What  motive  moved  Paul  in  this  work  ?  (4)  Describe 
the  journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem,  giving  the  route  and  the 
main  incidents  of  the  journey.  (5)  How  v^as  the  offering  of  the 
gentiles  received  at  Jerusalem  ?  (6)  What  had  been  reported  in 
Jerusalem  concerning  Paul  ?  (7)  How  did  the  elders  propose  that 
Paul  should  prove  the  falsity  of  this  report  ?  (8)  Was  there  any 
truth  in  the  report  ?  (9)  Was  it  consistent  with  Paul's  life  and 
teaching  to  participate  in  the  ceremony  ?  (10)  How  was  his  act  liable 
to  be  misunderstood?  (ii)What  motives  influenced  Paul  to  take 
part  in  this  ceremony  ?  Can  you  draw  from  his  act  a  general  prin- 
ciple applicable  to  many  cases  ? 

(12)  What  Jews  made  an  assault  on  Paul  in  the  temple?  (13) 
What  were  their  charges  against  him?  (14)  What  was  the  founda- 
tion for  the  second  charge?  Why  was  it  absurd?  (15)  How  was 
Paul  saved  from  the  mob  ?  (16)  What  was  Antonia  and  where  did 
it  stand  ?  (17)  Who  was  in  charge  of  it,  and  how  many  soldiers 
were  under  him?  (18)  Who  did  the  captain  think  that  Paul  was, 
and  why  ? 

(19)  What  is  the  course  of  thought  in  Paul's  address  from  the 
castle  stairs  ?  (20)  At  what  point  was  he  interrupted,  and  why  ? 
(21)  For  what  purpose  did  the  captain  command  that  Paul  be 
scourged  ?  (22)  How  was  he  saved  from  this  ?  (23)  Why  may  we 
attribute  our  report  of  this  address  to  Luke  ?  (24)  When  and  why  did 
the  captain  bring  Paul  before  the  Sanhedrin  ?  (25)  What  led  to  the 
interruption  of  Paul's  defense  ?  (26)  What  did  Paul  mean  by  saying 
that  he  was  a  Pharisee?  (27)  How  may  his  statement  that  he  was 
on  trial  because  of  his  belief  in  the  resurrection  be  explained  ? 

(28)  Who  plotted  against  Paul's  life,  and  how  did  they  hope  to 
accomplish  their  desire  ?  (29)  How  was  the  plot  frustrated  ?  (30) 
Why  did  the  captain  send  Paul  to  Caesarea  ?  (31)  Describe  the 
escort  and  the  journey. 

§  132.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

I.  W^rite  a  chapter  on  Paul's  last  visit  to  Jerusalem.  It  may 
have  the  following  outline:  The  step  which  Paul  took  to  conciliate 
the  Jewish  Christians  in  Jerusalem;    the  cause  and  manner  of  his 


PAULS    LAST    VISIT   TO   JERUSALEM  I9I 

arrest;    his  speech  from  the  castle  stairs;    his  appearance  before  the 
Sanhedrin;    the  plot  against  his  life;    his  removal  to  Coesarea. 

2.  On  Antonia  see: 

Josephus,  Jewish  War,  6.   i,  2;    Schiirer,  The  Jewish    People,  etc.,  Div.  i, 
Vol.  II,  pp.  55,  56. 

3.  About  how  long,  according  to  Acts,  was  Paul  in  Jerusalem 
on  his  last  visit  ? 


CHAPTER  XX 

PAUL'S  IMPRISONMENT  IN  C^SAREA 
SYNOPSIS 

§  133.  Paul  and  his  accusers  before  Felix.  Acts  24:1  23 

§134.  Paul  before  Felix  and  Drusilla.  Acts  24:24-27 

§135.  Paul  and  his  accusers  before  Festus;  the  appeal  to  Caesar.       Acts25:i-i2 

§136.  Paul  before  Agrippa  and  Bernice.  Acts  25: 13 — 26:32 

§  T33.  Paul  and  His  Accusers  before  Felix. — The  city  to  which 
Paul  was  brought  a  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  was  one  of  the  chief 
works  of  Herod  the  Great,  built  on  the  site  of  an  earlier  town  called 
Strato's  Tower,  and  dedicated  in  Herod's  twenty-eighth  year.  It 
had  many  palaces  and  public  edifices  of  white  stone,  a  temple  on  the 
water-front  that  was  visible  far  out  at  sea,  a  large  theater  and  amphi- 
theater, sewers  that  were  flushed  by  the  tides,  and  a  safe  and  com- 
modious harbor  which  was  beautifully  adorned  (Antiq.,  15.  9.  6; 
16.  5.  i;  Jewish  War,  3.  9.  i).  It  was  a  city  of  considerable  size. 
Josephus  says  that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Jewish  War  in  66  A.  d., 
the  heathen  population  rose  up  aganist  the  Jews  and  put  20,000  to 
death.  If  this  statement  is  even  approximately  correct,  and  if,  as 
Josephus  says,  the  greatest  part  of  the  inhabitants  were  Greeks, 
then  the  total  population  of  Caesarea  must  have  been  many  thou- 
sands. 

That  there  were  Christian  disciples  in  Caesarea  we  have  already 
seen.  It  was  the  home  of  Philip,  who  had  estabhshed  the  church  in 
Samaria,  and  the  scene  of  Peter's  triumph  in  the  house  of  Cornelius. 
It  was  a  place  that  Paul  had  visited  at  least  three  times  since  his  con- 
version, the  last  occasion  having  been  some  two  weeks  before  he  was 
sent  thither  by  Claudius  Lysias.  The  word  which  Agabus  had 
spoken  to  Paul  in  this  very  city,  saying  that  the  Jews  would  deliver 
him  over  to  the  gentiles,had  been  fulfilled  with  startling  suddenness. 

The  procurator  to  whom  Paul  was  delivered  from  Jerusalem 
was  Antonius  Felix,  who,  according  to  Josephus,  was  appointed  by 
the  emperor  Claudius  in  the  year  52  A.  d.  (A^itiq.,  16.  5.  i).  He 
had  a  Jewish  wife  by  the  name  of  Drusilla,  daughter  of  Agrippa  I, 

192 


194  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

whom  he  had  ahcnalcd  from  Azizus,  her  husband,  by  means  of  a 
magician.  Tacitus  says  that  Felix  had  been  a  slave,  and  that  when 
set  free  he  retained  a  slave's  temper.  According  to  Josephus,  he  was 
a  man  of  lust  and  blood,  whose  only  remedy  for  the  disorders  of 
Judea  was  a  campaign  of  force  {Jewish  War,  2.  13.  2.  7). 

Within  a  week  after  Paul's  arrival  in  Ca?sarea,  his  accusers  ap- 
peared before  Felix,  the  high  priest  himself  coming  down  and  bring- 
ing a  trained  advocate,  who,  to  judge  from  his  name,  Tertullus,  was 
a  Roman,  The  Jews,  through  Tertullus,  brought  three  charges 
against  Paul,  viz.,  first,  that  he  had  created  insurrections  among  the 
Jews  everywhere;  second,  that  he  was  a  leader  of  the  sect  of  Naza- 
renes,  and  third,  that  he  had  tried  to  profane  the  temple.  To  these 
charges  Paul  replied,  when  Felix  had  beckoned  to  him,  and  his  reply 
contains  four  points.  He  declared  that  the  charge  of  being  an  in- 
surrectionist could  not  be  proven,  that  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the 
Nazarenes  was  not  contrary  to  the  law,  that  he  had  done  nothing 
disorderly  in  the  temple,  and  that  the  council  at  Jerusalem  had 
found  nothing  against  him.  Felix  having  heard  both  sides  refused 
to  pronounce  on  the  case  at  once,  and  said  that  he  would  wait  until 
Lysias  should  come  down.  This  may  have  been  a  device  for  turning 
the  Jews  away.  At  any  rate  they  seem  to  have  had  no  hope  of  secur- 
ing a  judgment  against  Paul  from  Felix,  and  apparently  made  no 
further  attempt  to  do  so.  In  the  meantime  their  purpose  was  in  a 
measure  accomplished,  for  their  enemy,  so  long  as  he  was  kept  a 
prisoner  in  Caesarea,  could  not  carry  on  his  work  of  destroying  the 
law  of  Moses. 

§  134.  Paul  before  Felix  and  Drusilla. — The  two  years  spent  in 
Caesarea  are  an  almost  complete  blank  in  the  history  of  Paul.  He  had 
a  good  deal  of  liberty,  was  allowed  to  meet  his  friends  and  receive 
their  ministrations,  and  doubtless  was  allowed  exercise  out  of  doors 
with  a  guard  to  attend  him.  We  must  suppose  that  he  was  active 
in  the  interest  of  the  gospel,  so  far  as  he  had  opportunity,  for  this 
was  his  passion ;  but  in  what  form  of  activity  he  may  have  been  en- 
gaged we  do  not  know.' 

In  the  early  part  of  Paul's  stay  in  Caesarea  he  was  summoned  to 

I  Some  scholars  hold  that  the  letters  to  Philemon,  the  Colossians,  and  Ephesians 
were  written  from  Cassarea,  but  without  sufficient  ground. 


PAULS    IMPRISONMENT    IN   CASAREA  1 95 

speak  of  the  faith  in  Christ  before  Fehx  and  his  Jewish  wife.  The 
procurator  was  impressed,  as  Herod  Antipas  had  been  impressed  by 
the  preaching  of  the  Baptist,  but  the  impression  was  not  abiding. 
What  Paul  had  said  about  righteousness  and  judgment  did  not  deter 
Fehx  from  seeking  bribes  from  his  prisoner.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  what  gave  Felix  the  impression  that  Paul  could  procure 
money  to  buy  his  liberty.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  Paul 
ever  dressed  as  did  the  wealthy.  On  the  contrary,  as  he  was  fre- 
quently dependent  on  the  labor  of  his  own  hands  for  support,  we 
are  doubtless  to  think  of  his  dress  as  extremely  plain.  It  is  possible 
that  Felix  was  led  to  think  of  a  large  bribe  by  the  number  and  means 
of  those  friends  of  Paul  who  visited  him  in  his  confinement. 

§  135.  Paul  and  His  Accusers  before  Festus;  the  Appeal  to  Cae- 
sar.—Porcius  Festus  was  appointed  procurator  by  Nero  in  the  place 
(i  Felix,  whom  the  emperor  recalled,  very  likely  because  his  adminis- 
tration was  not  successful.  The  appointment  of  Festus  is  put  with 
most  probability  between  58  and  60  a.  d.  (Schurer,  The  Jewish 
People,  etc.,  Div.  i,  Vol.  II,  pp.  182-84,  note).  We  know  almost 
nothing  of  the  character  of  the  man  except  what  can  be  gathered 
from  Acts.  Josephus  indicates  that  he  was  a  good  deal  better  than 
his  successor,  Albinus  {Jewish  War,  2.  14.  i),  but  this  does  not  give 
us  any  very  definite  knowledge  of  him. 

Festus  visited  Jerusalem  almost  immediately  after  landing  at 
Caesarea,  and  the  chief  priests  and  principal  men,  having  laid  Paul's 
case  before  him,  asked  that  he  might  be  sent  back  to  Jerusalem  for 
trial.  This  shows  that  they  had  by  no  means  forgotten  Paul,  but 
w^ere  simply  waiting  for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  destroy  him. 
According  to  Luke,  they  did  not  now  expect  a  judgment  against 
Paul,  but  hoped  to  kill  him  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem.  The  reply 
of  Festus  to  this  request  of  the  Jews  was  creditable  to  him.  He 
had  not  yet  heard  Paul's  side  of  the  case,  and  it  would  therefore  have 
been  manifestly  unfair  to  grant  the  request  of  his  accusers. 

Moreover,  Caesarea  was  his  official  residence,  and  Paul  was  there. 
It  is  also  likely  that  Festus  knew  something  of  the  inflammable  char- 
acter of  the  Jerusalem  populace,  and  felt  that  it  would  be  easier  to 
dispatch  the  case  at  a  distance  from  the  storm  center.  Therefore 
he  refused  the  request  of  the  principal  men,  and  said  that  they  should 


196  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

come  down  to  Caesarea,  and  there  make  known  their  case  against 
the  prisoner. 

From  Luke's  account  of  what  Festus  said  to  Agrippa  (Acts 
25:14-16),  it  appears  that  the  Jews  had  asked  either  that  Festus 
should  give  sentence  against  Paul  on  their  testimony  alone,  or  that 
his  case  should  be  transferred  from  the  Roman  to  the  Jewish  bar 
for  judgment.  If  this  latter  disposition  of  the  matter  was  what  they 
sought,  it  would  agree  very  well  with  the  plot  to  kill  Paul  on  the  way 
to  Jerusalem. 

As  soon  as  Festus  returned  to  Caesarea,  he  gave  a  hearing  to  Paul 
and  his  accusers.  The  Jews  presented  many  and  grievous  accusa- 
tions, the  nature  of  which  may  be  inferred  from  Paul's  reply.  He 
declared  that  he  had  not  sinned  against  the  law  of  the  Jews,  the 
temple,  or  Caesar,  and  therefore  we  judge  that  their  charges  had 
concerned  these  points.  They  were  thus  partly  political  and  partly 
religious.  The  attitude  of  Festus  toward  Paul  after  he  and  his 
accusers  had  spoken  was  not  altogether  honorable.  He  asked  Paul 
whether  he  would  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  there  be  judged  before  him. 
This  is  the  very  thing  which  he  had  once  refused  to  allow,  and  now, 
at  any  rate,  there  was  nothing  to  justify  such  a  step.  It  was  plainly 
a  proposition  which  Festus  made  in  order  to  gain  favor  with  the 
Jews.  He  himself,  at  a  later  day,  told  Agrippa  that  he  had  found 
nothing  worthy  of  death  in  Paul  (Acts  25:25),  and  indeed  that  he 
knew  of  no  single  valid  charge  against  him  to  send  to  the  emperor. 
It  was  his  duty,  then,  to  release  Paul  rather  than  to  ask  him  if  he  would 
go  to  Jerusalem.  Paul's  reply  to  this  question  of  Festus  was  the  only 
one  which  he  could  give.  He  knew  well  that  to  go  to  Jerusalem 
meant  death.  If  he  did  not  wish  to  beput  to  death  in  Jerusalem  on 
utterly  false  charges,  the  only  thing  now  left  him  was  to  appeal  to 
Caesar.  This,  accordingly,  he  did,  and  when  Festus  had  conferred 
with  his  councilors,  perhaps  to  ascertain  whether  there  was  any  legal 
hindrance  in  the  way  of  granting  Paul's  appeal,  he  formally  trans- 
ferred the  case  to  the  supreme  court  in  Rome. 

§  136.  Paul  before  Agrippa  and  Bernice. — Agrippa  II,  son  of 
Agrippa  I  who  died  in  44  A.  d.  in  Caesarea,  was  ruler  over  the  small 
kingdom  in  Lebanon,  which  had  been  his  uncle's,  also  over  the  re- 
gion which  had  belonged  to  Herod  Philip  and  over  parts  of  that  of 
Herod  Antipas.     His  capital  was  Caesarea  Philippi.     Like  his  father 


PAUL  S    IMPRISONMENT    IN    C^SAREA  1 97 

he  was  devoted  to  Rome,  where  he  was  probably  educated  and  spent 
most  of  his  life  prior  to  about  53  A.  d.  (Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People, 
etc.,  Div.  I,  Vol.  II,  p.  191).  He  took  the  side  of  Rome  in  the  Jewish 
War,  and  remained  in  power  until  his  death  in  100  A.  d.  He  left 
no  heir.  He  had  little  of  the  ability  which  had  characterized  his 
grandfather,  and  rendered  no  worthy  service  to  his  people  during  his 
reign  of  a  half-century.  Bernice  with  whom  he  lived  in  an  unlawful 
relation  was  his  sister.     Drusilla,  wife  of  Felix,  was  another  sister. 

Agrippa  and  Bernice  came  to  Caesarea  to  welcome  the  Roman  pro- 
curator, and  while  there,  having  become  acquainted  with  Paul's 
case  from  Festus,  Agrippa  desired  to  hear  him.  This  wish  was  of 
course  granted,  especially  as  Festus  hoped  that  from  a  hearing  before 
Agrippa  he  might  learn  something  definite  about  Paul's  case  which 
he  could  send  to  the  emperor.  He  evidently  thought  that  Agrippa 
would  have  an  understanding  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  case  such 
as  he,  a  Roman,  could  not  hope  to  have.  That  Agrippa  was  well 
informed  regarding  Jewish  customs  and  questions  of  the  law,  Paul 
acknowledged  in  the  opening  of  his  speech. 

In  his  defense  before  Agrippa  Paul  went  over  the  ground  with 
wh'ch  we  have  already  become  familiar.  He  spoke  of  his  early  life 
and  education,  his  career  as  a  persecutor  of  the  Christians,  his  con- 
version on  the  way  to  Damascus,  and  his  mission  to  the  gentiles. 
His  statement  of  the  reason  why  the  Jews  persecuted  him  is  notable. 
He  said  that  he  was  accused  by  the  Jews  concerning  the  hope  of  the 
messianic  promise.  As  no  such  charge  had  ever  been  brought  against 
Paul,  we  may  perhaps  regard  this  statement  as  giving  his  analysis 
of  the  real  underlying  reason  of  the  Jewish  hostility.  The  promise 
made  to  the  fathers  was,  for  him,  fulfilled  in  Jesus,  as  proven  by  his 
resurrection;  and  he,  in  obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision,  had 
preached  this  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  It  was  this  fact — Paul's  lan- 
guage seems  to  imply — which  was  the  real  cause  of  the  hatred  of  his 
countrymen.  The  actual  charges  against  him  were  merely  super- 
ficial;   this  was  the  root  of  the  trouble. 

The  apology  before  Agrippa  does  not  appear  to  have  furnished 
Festus  any  more  definite  information  regarding  his  prisoner.  Agrip- 
pa pronounced  Paul  innocent.  Just  what  impression  Paul's  preach- 
ing of  Jesus  made  upon  him,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  If  his  reply  to 
Paul's  question  (Acts  26:28)  was  not  ironical,  it  was  at  any  rate  no 


I9»  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

more  than  half-hearted.  As  to  Festus,  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  touched  at  all  by  the  apostle's  message.  He  regarded  Paul 
as  a  fanatic  whose  condition  verged  on  insanity. 

§137.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Describe 
Caesarca — its  location,  notable  features  and  population.  (2)  What 
Christians  lived  there  ?  On  v^hat  occasions  had  Paul  been  in  the 
city  ?  (3)  When  and  by  whom  was  Fehx  made  procurator  of  Judea  ? 
(4)  What  was  the  character  of  the  man  and  his  administration  ?  (5) 
What  charges  did  Tertullus  make  against  Paul  ?  (6)  Name  the 
four  points  of  Paul's  reply.  (7)  What  action  did  Felix  take  ?  (8) 
What  was  the  nature  of  Paul's  imprisonment  in  Caesarea  ?  (9) 
How  deeply  did  his  preaching  affect  Felix?  (10)  When  and  by 
whom  was  Festus  appointed  to  the  procuratorship  of  Judea?  (11) 
What  favor  did  the  chief  priests  seek  from  him  ?  (12)  How  did  they 
hope  to  destroy  Paul  ?  (13)  What  answer  did  Festus  give,  and  why  ? 
(14)  Describe  the  hearing  before  Festus.  (15)  Show  wherein  the 
proposition  which  Festus  made  to  Paul  was  dishonorable.  (16) 
What  was  the  only  course  left  open  to  Paul  ? 

Give  the  main  facts  regarding  Agrippa  H.  (18)  Why  had  he 
and  Bernice  come  to  Caesarea?  (19)  Why  was  Felix  glad  to  have 
Agrippa  hear  Paul  ?  (20)  How  may  the  statement  of  Paul  that  he 
was  accused  concerning  the  hope  of  the  Messiah  be  explained? 
(21)  What  effect  did  Paul's  defence  have  on  Agrippa  and  Festus? 

§  138.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  Paul's  imprisonment  in  Caesarea,  having 
perhaps  the  following  outline:  the  city;  the  nature  of  Paul's  con- 
finement; the  Roman  procurators  Felix  and  Festus;  Agrippa  II; 
the  charges  against  Paul;  the  apostle's  defense;  how  he  came  to 
appeal  to  Csesar. 

2.  On  Caesarea  read: 

Josephus,  Antiq.,  15.  9.  6;  16.  5.  i;  Jewish  War,  3.  9.  i;  Schurer,  The  Jew- 
ish People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  I,  p.  84. 

3.  On  the  date  of  the  appointment  of  Festus  see: 

Schurer,  Div.  i.  Vol.  II,  pp.  182-84,  note;  Turner,  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dic- 
tionary, article  "Chronology  of  New  Testament,"  II,  8. 

4.  The  Herods  of  the  book  of  Acts;  their  relation  to  one  another 
and  to  the  Herods  of  the  Gospels. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME  ^ 

§  139.  From  Caesarea  to  Fair  Havens.  Acts  27:1-8 

§  140.  The  storm  and  the  shipwreck.  Acts  27:9-44 

§141.  On  the  island  of  Melita.  Acts  28:1-10 

§  142.  From  Melita  to  Rome.  Acts  28:11-15 

§  139.  From  Cgesarea  to  Fair  Havens. — In  the  latter  part  of 
August,^  or  early  in  September,  of  the  year  58,  59,  or  60  A.  D.,  Paul 
with  other  prisoners  embarked  at  Caesarea  to  go  to  Rome.  But 
the  ship  in  which  they  embarked  was  bound  for  places  on  the  coast 
of  Asia.  Probably  there  was  no  ship  then  at  Caesarea  which  was  to 
sail  directly  for  Rome,  and  as  the  season  was  advanced  it  was  thought 
best  to  take  this  north-bound  ship  in  hope  of  making  a  transfer  at 
one  of  the  large  Asiatic  ports. 

The  escort  that  conducted  Paul  to  Rome  consisted  of  a  centu- 
rion by  the  name  of  Julius,  and  a  considerable,  though  indefinite 
number  of  soldiers  (Acts  27:31,  42).  Julius  appears  in  our  narrative 
as  a  high-minded  man,  worthy  to  rank  with  the  other  centurions 
known  to  us  from  the  New  Testament  (Matt.  8:5;  Mark  15:39; 
Acts  10:1).  Throughout  the  journey  he  treated  Paul  with  kindness 
and  consideration.  He  gave  heed  to  the  pilot  and  the  owner  of  the 
ship  in  the  matter  of  setting  sail  from  Fair  Havens,  rather  than  to 
Paul,  but  this  was  quite  natural,  and  argued  no  lack  of  kindness 
for  his  prisoner.  He  acted  on  Paul 's  advice  when  the  sailors  sought 
to  escape  from  the  ship,  and  ordered  the  soldiers  to  cut  the  ropes  and 
let  the  boat  fall  into  the  sea.  It  was  his  regard  for'  Paul  that  led 
him  to  oppose  the  counsel  of  the  soldiers,  when  they  proposed  to 
kill  the  prisoners,  lest  they  should  escape  as  the  ship  went  to  pieces. 

'  Considerable  portions  of  this  chapter  are  taken  from  my  Student's  Lije  oj 
Paul,  with  the  kind  permission  of  the  Macmillan  Company. 

2  An  approximate  estimate  based  on  Acts  27:  9,  taken  together  ^vith  the  distance 
which  they  had  then  sailed,  and  allowing  for  the  stops  in  Sidon  and  Myra.  See 
Turner  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  article  "Chronology." 

199 


200  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

As  Paul  was  fortunale  in  being  delivered  to  the  care  of  Julius, 
so  also  was  he  fortunate  in  being  allowed  to  have  with  him  two  old 
and  tried  friends,  Luke  the  physician,  and  Aristarchus  a  Mace- 
donian of  Thessalonica,  both  of  whom  had  accompanied  him  on 
his  journey  from  Greece  to  Jerusalem  two  years  before.  These 
men  not  only  made  the  voyage  with  him,  but  appear  to  have  remained 
with  him  through  his  Roman  imprisonment  (Col.  4:10,  14;  Phil- 
emon 24). 

The  second  day  from  Caesarea  the  ship  touched  at  Sidon,  and 
Paul  was  allowed  to  go  ashore,  and  to  be  refreshed  by  the  attention 
of  Christian  brethren.  This  little  item  is  of  interest  because  it 
gives  us  our  first  knowledge  of  a  Christian  community  at  Sidon, 
and  shows  that  they  knew  and  loved  Paul.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  they  were  his  own  converts,  and  that  he  had  visited  them  some 
ten  years  before  when  he  with  Barnabas  went  up  from  Antioch  to 
Jerusalem  to  confer  with  the  elder  brethren  regarding  the  question 
which  was  troubling  the  church  at  Antioch  (Acts  15:3). 

The  next  port  at  which  Paul's  ship  called  was  that  of  Myra  in 
Lycia,  about  five  hundred  miles  from  Caesarea.  Here  the  prisoners 
were  transferred  to  a  ship  of  Alexandria  which  was  bound  for  Rome. 
It  had  a  cargo  of  wheat,  and  carried  in  all  276  passengers.  The 
westward  journey  from  Myra  to  Fair  Havens  on  the  south  of  Crete, 
a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  miles,  was  slow  and  difficult  on 
account  of  strong  head  winds,  and  when  they  reached  the  Cretan 
harbor,  they  waited  some  days  (Acts  27:9). 

§  140.  The  Storm  and  the  Shipwreck. — While  the  ship  lay  in  the 
harbor  of  Fair  Havens,  there  was  apparently  much  discussion  as  to 
the  best  course  to  be  taken.  Paul  was  strongly  opposed  to  continuing 
the  journey,  feeling  sure  that  in  this  case  both  ship  and  passengers 
would  be  lost.  His  counsel  was  probably  based  on  his  long  expe- 
rience of  the  Mediterranean  (2  Cor.  11:25),  and  was  wise,  as  the 
result  showed,  though  in  the  matter  of  the  loss  of  life  his  opinion 
was  changed  some  days  later  (vs.  22).  The  centurion,  who  might 
have  taken  his  prisoners  ashore  and  wintered  in  Crete,  was  per- 
suaded by  the  pilot  and  the  captain,  or  perhaps  the  owner  of  the 
ship,  to  continue  his  voyage.  It  was  not  now  expected  that  they 
could  get  to  Rome  before  winter,  nor  were  they  disposed  to  attempt 


THE    VOYAGE    TO    ROME  20I 

it.  They  wished  only  to  reach  Phoenix,  some  forty  miles  farther 
west,  which  had  a  better  harbor  in  which  to  winter.  Therefore, 
when  the  wind  blew  softly,  they  set  sail,  and  kept  as  close  to  the  shore 
as  possible. 

Soon  after  leaving  Fair  Havens  a  hurricane  from  the  northeast 
struck  the  ship,  and  for  fourteen  days  it  was  driven,  partly  unrigged 
and  helpless.  As  no  sun  or  stars  appeared — the  only  compass 
which  they  had  in  those  days— the  sailors  could  not  calculate  where 
they  were,  or  whither  they  were  being  borne,  though  they  feared 
that  they  should  run  aground  on  the  Syrtis  off  the  coast  of  Africa 
west  of  Cyrene.  As  it  proved,  they  were  driven  far  to  the  north 
of  this  dangerous  region. 

The  one  bright  incident  during  the  hopeless  days  of  the  tempest 
was  Paul's  vision  and  words  of  cheer.  As  he  had  been  assured 
two  years  before  that  he  must  bear  witness  in  Rome  (Acts  23:11), 
so  now  again  an  angel  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  and  assured 
him  that  he  should  not  only  stand  before  Caesar,  but  also  that  all 
other  persons  on  the  ship  should  be  delivered  from  the  storm.  Paul 
added,  as  though  on  his  own  authority  and  not  as  a  part  of  the 
angel 's  message,  that  they  must  be  cast  on  a  certain  island.  They 
were  not  destined  to  make  a  harbor,  but  at  the  same  time  they  were 
all  to  escape  from  the  sea.  What  effect  these  words  of  cheer  had 
on  the  passengers  we  are  not  told. 

In  the  last  night  on  shipboard,  after  they  had  anchored,  an  inci- 
dent occurred  which  showed  that  Paul,  though  a  prisoner,  was  an 
important  member  of  the  ship's  company.  About  midnight  some 
of  the  sailors  lowered  the  boat  under  pretence  of  laying  out  anchors 
from  the  foreship,  but  with  the  intention  of  pushing  off  and  aban- 
doning the  vessel.  They  were  probably  convinced  that  land  was 
near,  and  that  it  was  safer  to  approach  it  in  the  small  boat  than  in 
the  ship.  Paul  saw  the  aim  of  the  sailors,  and  immediately  made  it 
known  to  the  centurion,  who,  without  waiting  to  consult  the  captain, 
ordered  the  soldiers  to  cut  the  boat's  ropes  and  let  it  fall  into  the 
sea.  It  is  significant  that  Paul,  though  he  had  been  assured  in  his 
dream  that  he  should  reach  Rome,  was  on  watch  at  midnight,  and 
was  quick  to  see  what  concerned  the  common  welfare.  Later  in  the 
same  night  we   see  Paul   in   another  characteristic   scene.     He   was 


202  niRISTIANlTY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

confident  thai  they  were  to  reach  land  in  safety,  and  besought  all  the 
passengers  to  take  food.  He  himself  began  to  cat,  after  he  had 
given  thanks  to  God,  and  his  spirit  communicated  itself  to  the  rest. 
They  also  ate,  and  were  of  good  cheer. 

In  the  morning,  as  they  were  seeking  to  bring  the  ship  into  a  bay, 
it  grounded,  and  soon  began  to  be  broken  by  the  violence  of  the 
waves.  The  soldiers  were  in  favor  of  killing  the  prisoners  lest  they 
should  escape,  for  if  the  prisoners  escaped,  they  themselves  would 
be  held  responsible.  But  Julius  chose  to  take  the  risk  of  the  pris- 
oners '  escaping,  for  he  wished  to  save  Paul,  His  confidence  appears 
to  have  been  rewarded,  for  though  all  the  passengers  were  separated, 
and  each  got  to  land  as  best  he  could,  there  is  no  record  that  anyone 
attempted  to  escape. 

§  141.  On  the  Island  of  Melita. — The  island  of  Melita,  on  which 
the  shipwrecked  people  found  themselves,  has  been  almost  univer- 
sally identified  with  Malta,  an  island  seventeen  and  one-fourth 
miles  long  and  nine  and  one-fourth  miles  wide,  lying  south  of  Sicily 
about  fifty-eight  miles;  and  St.  Paul's  Bay  on  the  north  side  of  the 
island  has  been  shown  to  answer  in  a  remarkable  way  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  narrative  as  the  very  place  of  the  wreck.  The  direction 
of  the  wind  which  struck  the  ship  off  the  ccast  of  Crete  points  toward 
Malta.  The  fact  that  an  Alexandrian  ship  wintered  in  one  of  the 
harbors  of  the  island  points  to  Malta,  which  had  excellent  harbors, 
rather  than  to  Meleda,  the  only  other  island  whose  name  allows  it  to  be 
considered  as  the  scene  of  the  wreck  of  Paul's  ship.  This  Meleda 
is  far  up  on  the  coast  of  Illyria,  and  thus  was  not  a  likely  place  for  a 
ship  to  winter  that  was  bound  from  Alexandria  to  Puteoli  and  other 
ports  on  the  west  coast  of  Italy. 

Paul  and  his  fellow-passengers  w^ere  obliged  to  stay  in  Malta 
about  three  months,  until  the  opening  of  navigation.  This  may  have 
been  in  the  early  part  of  February.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island, 
descendants  of  a  Phoenician  colony  or  of  a  kindred  people  from 
Carthage,  received  the  ship's  passengers  with  kindness.  The 
Roman  magistrate,  the  highest  officer  on  the  island,  entertained 
them  for  three  days;  and  when  they  embarked  in  the  spring,  the 
people  of  the  island  provided  such  things  as  they  needed  for  the 
journey.     This  kindness  both  of  Publius,  the  magistrate,  and  the 


THE    VOYAGE    TO    ROME  203 

inhabitants  in  general  Paul  repaid  richly,  for  he  healed  the  father 
of  Publius  of  a  severe  illness,  and  others  who  were  sick  with  various 
diseases. 

The  incident  of  the  viper  contains  various  details  that  are  char- 
acteristic of  Paul.  It  was  hke  him  to  be  active  for  the  comfort  of 
others,  as  he  was  in  gathering  sticks  for  the  fire.  It  was  also  Hke 
him  not  to  make  any  ado  over  the  bite  of  the  viper,  but  simply  to 
shake  the  reptile  off  into  the  fire.  He  had  been  in  scores  of  perils 
equally  great,  and  the  Lord  had  delivered  him. 

The  judgment  of  the  barbarians  when  they  first  saw  the  viper 
on  Paul  was  as  natural  as  was  their  later  judgment  when  they  saw 
that  he  experienced  no  ill  result.  Paul  was  a  prisoner,  and  when 
the  people  saw  a  viper  on  his  hand,  it  was  easy  to  think  that  this 
was  a  righteous  punishment  for  some  crime.  But  when  he  shook  it 
off,  and  took  no  harm,  they  reasoned  that  he  was  a  god,  as  did  the 
Lyca.  nians  when  Paul  healed  the  cripple. 

§  142.  From  Melita  to  Rome. — The  ship  which  took  the  prisoners 
from  Malta  was  from  Alexandria,  and  had  wintered  in  one  of  the 
harbors  of  the  island.  On  its  way  to  Puteoli  it  touched  at  Syracuse 
in  Sicily,  some  ninety  miles  from  Malta,  and  again  at  Rhegium  in 
Italy,  which  was  sixty-three  miles  farther.  From  there  they  came 
on  the  second  day  to  Puteoli,  two  hundred  and  twelve  miles  from 
Rhegium. 

In  Puteoli,  the  principal  port  of  southern  Italy,  where  one  of  the 
first  temples  for  the  worship  of  Augustus  was  erected,  Paul  and  his 
companions  were  refreshed  by  the  presence  of  Christian  brethren, 
at  whose  solicitation  they  remained  a  week.  There  had  long  been 
a  Jewish  colony  in  Puteoli  (see  Schiirer,  The  Jewish  People,  etc., 
Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  p.  241),  perhaps  because  it  was  a  flourishing  seaport, 
but  we  know  nothing  of  the  founding  of  the  church  there.  It  is 
possible  that  the  brethren  had  heard  of  Paul  and  his  work,  and 
therefore  wished  him  to  tarry  a  few  days  with  them,  or  it  may  be 
that  their  invitation  rested  simply  on  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Christian 
and  a  prisoner. 

From  Puteoli  Paul  went  the  remaining  129  miles  by  land.  It 
seems  that  word  of  his  coming  must  have  been  sent  to  friends  in 
Rome  on  his  arrival  at  Puteoli,  for  when  he  at  length  reached  the 


204 


CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 


Market  of  Appius,  forty  miles  from  Rome,  he  was  met  by  a  company 
of  Christian  disciples  from  the  metrojjolis,  and  again,  ten  miles 
farther  on,   was  welcomed   ]jy  others  at   the  Three  Taverns.     This 


THE    ARCH    OF   DRUSUS:    ENTRANCE    TO    ROME    FROM   THE    APPTAN   WAY 


was  a  happy  omen  for  his  arrival  in  Rome,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that 
Paul  thanked  God  and  took  courage.  In  Jerusalem,  when  he  had 
been  seized  and  imprisoned,  no  effort  had  been  made  by  the  Jeru- 


THE    VOYAGE   TO    ROME  205 

salem  church  to  deliver  him  or  to  comfort  him  so  far  as  our  narrative 
informs  us;  but  now  from  these  brethren,  chiefly  gentiles,  to  whom 
he  had  written  two  years  before,  he  receives  tokens  of  the  liveliest 
sympathy,  though  he  comes  as  a  prisoner. 

§143.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  When  did 
Paul's  voyage  to  Rome  begin  ?  (2)  What  was  the  plan  of  voyage  as 
they  left  Caesarea?  (3)  Describe  Paul's  escort  both  pagan  and  Chris- 
tian. (4)  Where  did  the  ship  touch  first,  and  what  interest  attaches 
to  the  event  ?  (5)  Where  did  Paul  change  ships  ?  (6)  What  sort 
of  ship  was  the  new  one,  and  how  many  people  were  on  board  ? 
(7)  Why  did  the  ship  stop  in  Fair  Havens  ? 

(8)  What  was  Paul 's  opinion  in  regard  to  leaving  Fair  Havens  ? 
On  what  was  it  based?  (9)  With  what  plan  did  they  leave  Fair 
Havens  ?  (10)  Describe  the  experience  of  the  next  fourteen  days. 
(11)  What  was  Paul's  dream?  (12)  What  plan  cf  the  sailors  did 
Paul  thwart?  (13)  What  did  the  soldiers  counsel  regarding  the 
prisoners,  and  why  ? 

(14)  Describe  the  island  of  Melita.  (15)  How  long  did  Paul 
remain  there?  (i6)  How  were  the  passengers  treated?  (17) 
Describe  the  incident  of  the  viper,  and  its  interpretation  by  the 
inhabitants.  (18)  How  did  Paul  get  away  from  Malta?  (19)  At 
what  points  did  his  ship  touch,  and  where  did  he  disembark  ?  (20) 
Who  received  him  in  PuteoH  ?  (21)  How  did  he  complete  his  journey 
to  Rome  ?     (22)  At  what  places  was  he  met  by  Roman  Christians  ? 

§  144.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  voyage  of  Paul  to  Rome.  Illustrate 
with  a  diagram  showing  the  route  from  Caesarea  to  Rome,  the  places 
where  Paul  landed,  and  their  distances  from  each  other. 

2.  On  this  journey  read: 

James  Smith,  The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul. 

3.  On  Rom.  16:3-16  see: 

McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  275  ff.  for  a  statement  of  the  view  that 
it  refers  to  the  church  at  Ephesus;  and  for  the  view  that  it  is  part  of  the  original 
letter  to  the  Romans,  see  Sanday  and  Headlam,  Commentary  on  Romans,  Intro- 
duction, pp.  xlxxv  fif.,  and  Gilbert,  Student's  Life  of  Paul,  pp.  212-1^. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

PAUL'S  ROMAN  IMPRISONMENT  AND  THE  CLOSE  OF  HIS  LIFE 

SYNOPSIS 
§145.    The  scene  and  nature  of  PauPs  imprisonment.  Acts  28:16,  23,  30 

§  146.    The  conference  with  the  Jews  in  Rome  and  other  activities  of  the  Roman 
imprisonment.  Acts  28:16  28;  Phil.  1:12   14;  Col.  1:28,  29 

§  147.    Progress  of  the  work  at  Philippi:   Paul's  letter  to  the  church  in  that  city. 
§  148.    The  situation  in  Colossae  as  reflected  in  Paul's  letter  to  that  city. 
§  149.    Christianity  in  other  cities  of  Asia:   the  letter  to  the  Ephesians. 
§  150.    The  trial  and  death  of  Paul. 

§  145.  The  Scene  and  Nature  of  PauPs  Imprisonment. — The 
long  and  eventful  voyage  of  Paul  from  Csesarea  to  Rome  is  the  last 
chapter  of  his  career  on  which  we  have  any  fulness  of  information. 
After  his  entrance  into  the  metropolis,  though  we  do  not  wholly  lose 
sight  of  him,  we  have  henceforth  but  scant  knowledge  of  his  move- 
ments and  fortunes. 

It  appears  from  Luke  that  he  spent  about  two  years  in  a  very 
mild  sort  of  imprisonment.  One  soldier  only  was  detailed  to  guard 
him,  to  whom  he  was  apparently  bound  by  a  chain  (Eph.  6:20). 
He  was  allowed  to  have  his  own  private  lodging,  where  he  was  free 
to  receive  his  friends  and  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  expense  of  this 
lodging,  which  can  not  have  been  trivial,  was  doubtless  borne  by 
the  many  friends  in  Rome,  if  not  by  the  companions  of  Paul. 

If  we  regarded  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  as  our  only  authority 
for  Paul's  residence  in  Rome,  we  might  think  that  he  was  kept  in 
the  praetorian  barracks  (Phil.  1:13),  which  were  on  the  east  of  the 
city,  near  the  Viminal  Gate.  The  language  of  the  Philippian  letter, 
however,  is  satisfied  if,  with  Weizsacker,  we  assume  that  Paul's 
lodging  was  near  to  the  barracks.  He  would  thus  have  easily  be- 
come known  to  the  guards.  It  seems  that  this  lodging  was  found 
and  hired  almost  as  soon  as  Paul  arrived  in  Rome,  for  he  was  settled 
in  it  and  had  a  conference  with  the  Jews  within  three  days  of  that 
arrival. 

206 


PAUL  S    ROMAN   IMPRISONMENT 


207 


§  146.  The  Conference  with  Jews  in  Rome  and  Other  Activities 
of  the  Roman  Imprisonment. — At  the  earliest  possible  hour  Paul 
called  together  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Jewish  com- 
munity in  Rome,  which,  confined  at  first  to  the  region  beyond  the 
Tiber,  was  now  found  scattered  through  the  city  (Schiirer,  The 
Jewish  People,  etc.,  Div.  2,  Vol.  II,  pp.  235  ff.).  Paul  seems  to  have 
asked  for  this  conference  that  he 
might  explain  his  situation,  and, 
if  possible,  secure  the  sympathy 
of  his  Jewish  brethren.  The 
fact  that  the  chief  Jews  came 
together  at  Paul's  invitation 
indicates  that  his  name  was 
known  among  them,  as  we 
should  naturally  expect  to  have 
been  the  case.  Their  statement 
that  they  had  received  no  letters 
from  Judea  concerning  him,  and 
that  none  of  the  brethren  from 
the  East  had  come  with  an 
injurious  report,  is  limited  to 
the  recent  events  in  Jerusalem, 
which  had  led  to  Paul's  being 
sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome,  It 
does  not  imply  that  they  had 
never  heard  about  him  at  all. 

The  first  meeting  led  to  a 
second  at  the  request  of  the 
Jews  themselves,  and  this 
second  meeting  was  numerously 
attended.     The  purpose  of  the 

Jews  in  asking  for  the  second  conference  with  Paul  was  that  they 
might  hear  from  him  concerning  the  new  "sect."  Their  language 
seems  to  imply  that  they  had,  as  yet,  no  first-hand  knowledge  regard- 
ing it.  It  seems  strange  that  this  should,  indeed,  have  been  the 
case,  since  there  had  been  Christians  in  Rome  for  years.  But 
Rome  was  a  vast  city,  and    the    beheving    Jews   may,  for  a  long 


THE    EMPEROR   NERO 
(The  Caesar  to  whom  Paul  appealed) 


208  CHRISTIANITY   IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

time,  have  been  quite  separate  from  the  synagogues.  Moreover, 
it  is  possible  that  the  Jews  knew  more  of  Christianity  than  they  cared 
to  avow;  their  statement  may  have  been  true,  but  not  all  the 
truth. 

At  the  second  meeting  Paul  discoursed  the  entire  day,  with  the 
result  that  some  believed  the  things  which  he  spoke  and  some  dis- 
believed. In  view  of  the  warning  with  which  Paul  closed,  and  in 
view  of  his  general  missionary  experience  among  the  Jews,  we  may 
probably  think  of  those  who  believed  as  few  in  number. 

Luke  gives  no  other  details  of  Paul's  activity  in  Rome  beyond 
what  he  says  of  these  two  meetings  with  the  Jews.  He  only  makes 
the  general  statement  that  the  apostle  spoke  with  all  boldness  to 
all  who  came  to  him.  This  statement  suggests  that  Paul  may  have 
accomplished  not  a  httle,  for  always  when  he  was  able  to  speak 
freely  to  men  concerning  the  Lord  Jesus  there  were  encouraging 
results;  but  it  gives  us  no  certain  information  regarding  the  outcome 
of  his  work. 

Such  information,  however,  is  found  in  Paul's  own  letters  to  a 
limited  extent.  Thus  he  wrote  to  the  Philippians  that  the  gospel 
had  been  promoted  in  Rome  by  his  experience  (Phil.  1:12).  His 
presence  had  encouraged  others  to  preach  the  word  without  fear 
(Phil.  1:14).  He  was,  indeed,  a  prisoner,  but  such  was  his  influence 
on  the  soldiers  that  they  considered  him  innocent  of  any  crime. 
His  bonds  were  regarded  by  them  as  due  simply  to  his  religious 
faith  (Phil.  1:13).  In  his  letter  to  the  Colossians,  written  from 
Rome,  he  speaks  of  his  activity  in  admonishing  and  teaching,  and 
of  the  powerful  inward  energizing  of  God  of  which  he  was  conscious 
(Col.  1:28,  29).  This  language  suggests  that  his  preaching  and 
his  influence  in  general  was  productive  of  manifest  good  results. 

We  know  the  name  of  only  one  person  whom  Paul  converted 
while  in  Rome,  and  that  was  Onesimus,  a  slave  belonging  to  Phile- 
mon of  Colossae  in  Asia  Minor  (Philem.  10).  The  saints  of  Caesar's 
household  (Phil.  4:22),  since  they  do  not  appear  to  be  referred  to  in 
the  long  list  of  greetings  in  Rom.  16,  which  was  written  between  two 
and  three  years  before  Paul  came  to  Rome,  may  have  been  a  part 
of  the  fruit  of  his  labor.  Paul  was  supported  in  his  work  by 
various  former  colleagues.     Acjuila  and  Priscilla  were  in  Rome  before 


PAUL  S    ROMAN    IMPRISONMENT  2O9 

him  (Rom.  16:3),  Luke  and  Aristarchus  had  come  with  him  from 
Cassarca,  Timothy  and  Mark  were  with  him  when  he  wrote  to  the 
Phihppians  and  Colossians  (Phil.  1:1;  Col.  4:10).  Material  aid 
of  some  sort  was  received  from  Philippi  by  the  hand  of  Epaphroditus 
(Phil.  4:10,  18),  and  the  Ephesian  Onesiphorus  often  refreshed 
Paul,  whether  by  material  or  spiritual  gifts,  or  both,  we  are  not  told 
(2  Tim.  1:16).  But  the  letters  of  Paul  from  his  Roman  imprison- 
ment not  only  give  us  information  concerning  his  situation  in  Rome, 
but  also  enable  us  to  gain  most  significant  insight  into  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  the  cities  of  Macedonia  and  Asia  in  which  Paul  had 
previously  labored,  or  in  which  Christianity  had  been  planted  as 
the  indirect  result  of  his  labors.  We  must  pause  here,  therefore,  to 
look  further  into  these  letters. 

§  147.  Progress  of  the  Work  at  Philippi.  Paul's  Letter  to  the 
Church  in  the  City. — A  little  more  than  ten  years  had  passed  since 
Paul  planted  the  church  at  Philippi,  and  from  two  to  four  years 
since  he  last  visited  that  church.  But  the  brethren  at  Philippi 
had  not  forgotten  him.  They  contributed  to  his  support  while  in 
Thessalonica  and  Corinth,  and  now  after  a  considerable  interval 
(Phil.  4:10),  having  heard  that  he  was  a  prisoner  in  Rome,  perhaps 
through  Luke  who  seems  to  have  been  a  Philippian,  they  sent  and 
ministered  to  his  need  by  Epaphroditus  (Phil.  2:25-30;  4:18). 
This  gift  occasioned  Paul's  letter,  and  doubtless  the  information  which 
Epaphroditus  brought  served  in  part  as  a  basis  for  it. 

The  church  at  Philippi  was  now  organized  with  bishops  and 
deacons  (Phil.  1:1),  who  are  addressed  in  the  opening  of  the  letter, 
though  not  by  name  and  only  after  "all  the  saints."  The  members 
of  the  church — five  are  mentioned  by  name  (2:25;  4:2,  3) —  are 
recognized  by  Paul  as  co-workers  in  furtherance  of  the  gospel  from 
the  first  day  until  the  present  (1:5).  The  letter  impHes  that  some 
of  the  membership  were  eminent  for  Christian  graces.  Thus  it  is 
said  that  they  were  undaunted  by  persecution,  and  though  called  to 
suffer  as  Paul  himself  suffered  while  in  Philippi  and  now  in  Rome, 
they  still  remained  faithful  (1:27-30).  Epaphroditus  had  hazarded 
his  life  as  the  messenger  of  the  church  to  Paul  (2:30).  Even  more 
significant  in  this  connection  is  3 : 1 7,  for  this  verse  imphes  that  there 
were  some  Christians  in  Philippi  who,  in  Paul's  judgment,   were 


210  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

worthy  to  be  marked  and  imitated,  persons  in  whose  lives  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel  was  eminently  manifested. 

But  at  the  same  time,  though  Paul  in  his  generous  love  spoke  of 
the  church  as  his  joy  and  crown  (4:1),  there  was  clearly  a  decided 
lack  of  harmony  among  its  members  (see,  e.  g.,  2:1-5;  4:2). 
From  the  single  concrete  illustration  which  is  given,  viz.,  the  division 
between  Euodia  and  Syntyche,  we  should  hardly  infer  that  the  trouble 
was  between  the  Jewish  and  the  gentile  element  in  the  church,  for 
these  names  arc  both  Greek.  But  this  evidence  does  not  justify  any 
positive  statement  on  the  point.  The  noteworthy  fact  is  that  women 
were  prominent  in  the  church,  and  were  recognized  by  Paul  as 
fellow-workers  with  him  in  the  gospel.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
Paul,  while  writing  about  this  somewhat  unpleasant  matter,  could 
make  a  playful  reference  to  the  name  of  Synzygos,'  the  man  whom 
he  wished  to  act  as  a  peacemaker  between  Euodia  and  Syntyche. 
Whether  these  women  were  officers  in  the  church,  and  what  the 
cause  of  difference  between  them  was,  are  questions  on  which  the 
letter  throws  no  light. 

§  148.  The  Situation  in  Colossae,  as  Reflected  in  PauPs  Letter  to 
that  City. — One  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  from  Ephesus,  on  the 
road  which  Paul  would  have  taken  on  his  second  missionary  journey 
had  he  not  been  forbidden  to  preach  the  word  in  Asia,  stood  Colossae. 
Twenty  miles  to  the  west,  on  the  same  great  road,  was  Laodicea. 
The  church  in  Colossae  may  be  called  a  Pauline  foundation,  though 
Paul  was  never  there  (Col.  2:1).  It  appears  to  have  owed  its  origin 
to  Epaphras,  himself  a  Colossian,  of  whom  Paul  speaks  as  a  beloved 
fellow-servant  and  faithful  minister  in  Christ  (Col.  1:7).  He  may 
also  have  established  the  church  at  Laodicea  and  at  Hierapolis,  the 
latter  a  famous  city  about  twenty  miles  to  the  north  from  Laodicea 
(Col.  4:13).  Epaphras  was  not  unlikely  a  convert  of  Paul,  having 
heard  the  gospel  preached  by  him  at  Ephesus;  in  any  case,  he  was 
a  spiritual  son  of  the  apostle.  If  we  suppose  that  the  church  at 
Colossae  was  founded  during  or  soon  after  Paul's  work  in  Ephesus, 
it  was  some  five  years  old  when  the  letter  was  written. 

I  This  word  according  to  its  etymology  means  yokefellow,  or  perhaps  better 
mediator,  peacemaker  (Lipsius,  Drummond).  In  saying  "true"  Synzygos  Paul 
plays  on  the  etymological  sense  of  the  word. 


PAUL'S    ROMAN    IMPRISONMENT  211 

The  letter  was  occasioned  by  a  report  which  Epaphras  had  brought 
to  Paul  in  Rome  (Col.  i  :8).  He  had  borne  the  love  of  the  Colossians 
to  the  apostle,  and  had  doubtless  told  of  the  condition  of  the  church. 
That  he  was  extremely  solicitous  for  their  welfare,  and  for  the  churches 
of  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis,  appears  from  Col.  4:12,  13.  The  con- 
dition of  the  church  as  a  whole,  though  threatened  by  serious  error, 
was  still  sound.  They  had  faith  in  Christ  and  love  toward  all  the 
saints  (Col.  1:4),  the  gospel  was  bearing  fruit  among  them  and  in- 
creasing (Col.  1:6).  The  peril  of  false  teachers  was  at  hand,  but 
had  not  yet  seriously  invaded  the  church. 

Whether  the  church  at  Colossae  had  a  formal  organization  does 
not  clearly  appear,  though  the  message  to  Archippus  seems  to  sug- 
gest it.'  The  church  seems  to  have  met  in  the  house  of  Philemon 
(Philem.  2).  The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  false  teacher  or 
teachers  at  Colossae  was  angel-worship  (Col.  2:18),  hence  quite 
unlike  the  heretical  teaching  which  we  meet  at  Rome  and  Corinth, 
A  necessary  part  of  the  worship  of  angels,  that  which  prepared  one 
for  intercourse  with  them,  was  an  ascetic  severity  to  the  body  (Col. 
2:23).  This  consisted  in  the  avoidance  of  certain  kinds  of  meat 
and  drink  (Col.  2:16,  21),  in  the  observance  of  Jewish  holy  days 
(Col.  2:16),  and  perhaps  also  in  circumcision  (Col.  2:11;  3:11). 
The  angel  cult  was  apparently  observed  in  order  to  secure  visions 
and  revelations  of  truth  (Col.  2:18).  It  was  perhaps  claimed  that 
this  cult  showed  "humility,"  inasmuch  as  the  worshiper  did  not 
presume  to  approach  the  most  high  God,  but  only  an  angel. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  teachers  of  this  new  cult  brought  any  charges 
against  Paul,  though  it  is  evident  that  they  presented  their  doctrine  as  superior 
to  his.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  they  purposely  lowered  the  dignity  of  Christ. 
Paul  saw  that  this  would  be  the  inevitable  result  of  the  acceptance  of  their  doc- 
trine, and  for  this  reason  he  opposed  it  with  the  utmost  vigor.  In  Christ  are  all 
the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  (Col.  2:3);  therefore  there  is  no  need 
of  seeking  help  from  angels.  By  the  cross  of  Christ  have  the  principalities  and 
powers  been  despoiled  (Col.  2: 14,  15),  since  their  power  over  man  lay  in  the  bond 
which  was  nailed  to  the  cross;  and  therefore  there  is  no  need  to  fear  any  angelic 
powers  or  to  seek  to  propitiate  them. 

Whence  the  cult  of  angels  with  accompanying  asceticism  came  can  not  be 
determined.     It  has  a  Jewish  color  from  its  reference  to  circumcision  and  feasts, 
I  Salmon,  Xew   Testament   Introduction,   p.   383,   thinks  that  Archippus  was  at 
Laodicpa. 


212  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

but  its  doctrine  of  asceticism  in  meat  and  drink,  and  its  use  of  the  "rudiments 
of  the  world"'  point  rather  to  a  gentile  origin.  But  wherever  it  originated, 
whether  at  Alexandria,  the  home  of  the  Logos  speculation,  or  elsewhere,  it  was 
an  early  stage  of  that  gnostic  system  of  thought  which  attained  its  greatest  in- 
fluence in  the  second  century. 

§  149.  Christianity  in  Other  Cities  in  Asia;  the  Letter  to  the 
Ephesians. — The  so-called  letter  to  the  Ephesians  was  probably 
not  meant  for  the  Ephesians  at  all.^  It  seems  clear  that  it  was  in- 
tended for  readers  with  whom  Paul  was  not  personally  acquainted 
(see,  e.  g.,  Eph.  3:2).  The  only  suggestion  of  the  New  Testament 
in  regard  to  the  readers  is  that  they  may  have  been  at  Laodicea. 
In  the  letter  to  the  Colossians  the  writer  speaks  of  a  letter  "  jrom 
Laodicea"  which  they  are  to  read,  presumably  a  letter  which  he  had 
written  to  the  Laodiceans  (Col.  4:  16).  It  is  natural  to  identify  the 
letter  to  the  Laodiceans  with  the  so-called  letter  to  the  Ephesians 
because  it  appears  from  Colossians  that  conditions  in  Colossae  and 
Laodicea  were  similar  (Col.  4: 16),  and  by  the  side  of  this  fact  stands 
the  similarity,  often  very  close,  between  the  letter  to  the  Colossians 
and  our  Ephesians  (cf.,  e.  g..  Col.  1:3,4  with  Eph  1:15;  Col.  3:18 — 
4.  I  with  Eph.  5:22 — 6:9;  and,  in  general,  the  teaching  in  regard 
to  Christ).  But  whether  the  readers  were  at  Laodicea  or  in  some 
other  city  in  the  vicinity  of  Colossae  is  of  subordinate  importance. 
The  chief  point  for  our  present  survey  is  the  fact  that  a  report  of 
their  condition  had  reached  Paul  in  Rome,  which  report  was  of  such 
a  character  that  it  inspired  our  letter.  From  the  extraordinary  charac- 
ter of  the  letter  we  may  infer  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  re- 
port. It  spoke  of  their  faith  in  Jesus  and  their  love  toward  all  the 
saints  (Eph.  1:15).  So  also  had  the  report  from  Colossae  spoken 
of  that  church  (Col.  1:3,  4).  Yet  the  faith  and  love  of  the  unnamed 
church  seem  to  have  stirred  the  apostle  more  deeply  than  the  report 

1  On  this  expression  see  Gal.  4:3,  8.  The  reference  is  not  to  the  principles  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  but  to  "angels  who  represent  the  elements"  (von  Soden). 

2  The  words  "in  Ephesus"  are  lacking  in  certain  of  the  oldest  authorities  for  the 
text  (see  margin  R.  V.),  and  the  character  of  the  letter  itself  furnishes  strong  evidence 
that  it  was  not  written  to  a  church  with  which  Paul  had  sustained  the  intimate  and 
long-continued  relations  which  he  had  had  vnih  the  church  in  Ephesus.  Some  have 
supposed  that  it  was  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  a  number  of  churches  in  Asia,  of 
which  Ephesus  may  perhaps  have  been  one.  See  recent  works  on  New  Testatment 
Introduction. 


PAUL  S    ROMAN   IMPRISONMENT  21^ 

of  Christian  progress  at  Colossse.  The  letter  which  that  faith  and 
love  occasioned  seems  to  have  been  written  out  of  a  heart  overflowing 
with  gratitude  and  triumphant  joy.  No  other  letter  of  Paul  main- 
tains throughout  so  lofty  a  plane  of  thought  and  feeling.  No  other 
letter  is  so  poetical,  so  pervaded  by  serene  hope  and  courage  and 
gladness.  Large  sections  of  it  have  the  exaltation  and  glow  of  the  best 
hymns  (e,  g.,  1:3-14;     2:4-10;    3:14-21;    4:11-16;    6:10-20). 

The  members  of  the  unnamed  church  are  not  thought  of  as  per- 
fect. Some  of  them  need  to  be  warned  against  even  such  gross 
sins  as  falsehood  and  stealing,  covetousness  and  drunkenness  (4:25, 
28;  5:3;  18).  In  the  relationship  of  husbands  and  wives,  children 
and  parents,  servants  and  masters,  the  ideal  has  by  no  means  been 
attained.  But  in  the  church  as  a  whole  is  manifested  a  genuine  faith 
in  Jesus  and  an  incorruptible  love.  The  letter  makes  the  impres- 
sion of  a  company  of  men  and  women  whose  eyes  have  beheld  the 
vision  of  Christ,  and  in  whom  a  new  life  is  struggling  mightily  for 
complete  mastery.  The  apostle  goes  before  them  as  a  leader  in 
the  Christian  way,  confident  that  his  readers  will  follow  even  unto 
"the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  Such,  in  general,  was  the 
unnamed  church  to  which  the  so-called  letter  to  the  Ephesians  was 
sent.  If  this  letter  lights  up  the  room  in  Rome  where  Paul  was  held 
a  prisoner,  it  also  sheds  a  glory  upon  the  Christian  estate  of  its  readers. 
We  do  not  know  who  planted  the  gospel  among  them,  but  it  seems 
plain  from  the  letter  that  it  was  planted  deeply  and  well.  It  is  prob- 
ably true  that  the  church  to  which  this  letter  was  sent,  as  also  that 
at  Colossae,  was,  indirectly,  a  foundation  of  Paul,  for  he  by  his  great 
work  in  Ephesus  thoroughly  established  the  gospel  in  the  Roman 
province  of  Asia. 

§  150.   The  Trial  and  Death  of  Paul. 

I.  Some  fixed  points. — When  Paul  wrote  to  the  Philippians  and 
to  Philemon,  i.  e.,  late  in  the  second  year  of  his  imprisonment,'  he 
was  confident  that  he  should  be  released  (Phil.  2:24;  Philem.  22). 
He  asked  Philemon  to  prepare  a  lodging  for  him,  and  told  the  Philip- 

I  Phil.  1:12-18  looks  back  over  a  considerable  period.  Phil.  2:25-30  involves 
four  journeys  between  Philippi  and  Rome,  besides  a  period  of  indefinite  length  in  which 
Epaphroditus  hazarded  his  life  in  ministering  to  Paul's  needs.  This  passage  there- 
fore suggests  that  the  letter  can  hardly  have  been  written  before  the  latter  part  of  the 
second  vcar. 


214  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

pians  that  he  Irustcd  he  should  see  them  shortly.  Now  Paul  was 
in  a  position  to  know  something  of  the  probable  course  of  events. 
He  had  been  in  Rome  a  long  time,  and  had  Christian  brethren  in 
Caesar's  household.  He  doubtless  had  some  good  grounds  on  which 
to  base  his  hope  of  release.  His  conviction  is  one  of  the  fixed  points 
which  we  have  to  guide  our  thought.  And  it  may  be  noticed  here 
that  we  have  no  reason  to  think  that  Paul's  expectation  was  not 
realized.  There  is  no  evidence  that  this  hope  proved  to  be  groundless. 
Of  course,  he  may  have  been  mistaken  in  thinking  that  he  should  be 
liberated,  but  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  this  was  the  case.  For 
— and  this  is  another  fixed  point — there  is  evidence  that  Paul  was 
put  to  death  under  Nero,  but  none  that  determines  the  year  of  his 
death.  Clement  of  Rome,  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians, 
which  Harnack  assigns  to  the  period  93-95  A.  d.,  testifies  that  Paul 
suffered  martyrdom  under  the  prefects.  This  connects  his  death 
with  Rome,  but  does  not  indicate  the  year.  If  that  was  known  in 
the  time  of  Clement,  it  was  afterward  lost.  Hence,  as  Nero  did  not 
die  until  68  a.  d.,  the  martyrdom  of  Paul  may  have  occurred  in  any  one 
of  a  half-dozen  years.  The  fact,  then,  that  the  apostle  suffered  in 
the  reign  of  Nero  does  not  have  any  bearing  upon  the  other  fixed 
point,  that,  in  the  second  year  of  his  imprisonment,  he  was  confident 
that  he  should  be  released. 

There  is  still  another  point  to  be  taken  into  account.  As  far  as 
Acts  and  the  letters  of  Paul  are  concerned,  if  we  leave  out  of  con- 
sideration the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  Paul's  imprisonment  terminated  with  a  formal  trial.  True,  he 
was  sent  to  Rome  to  he  tried,  but  Festus  and  Agrippa  had  admitted 
that  there  was  no  damaging  evidence  against  him,  and  that  he  might 
have  been  set  at  liberty  if  he  had  not  appealed  to  Caesar.  Further, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  any  accusers  ever  appeared  against  Paul  in 
Rome,  if  we  still  disregard  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus.  Indeed, 
the  fact  that  his  case  was  not  taken  up  for  at  least  two  years  favors 
the  supposition  that  his  enemies  did  not  follow  him  to  the  metropolis. 
We  are  at  liberty,  then,  to  think  that  when  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Philippians  and  Philemon,  and  expressed  the  hope  of  a  speedy  re- 
lease, he  expected  that  the  case  against  him  would  simply  be  quashed. 

2.  Some  possible  evidence. — The  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus 


PAULS    ROMAN   IMPRISONMENT  21 5 

can  not,  according  to  many  recent  scholars,  be  accepted  as  altogether 
genuine.  They  contain  Pauline  elements,  and  they  contain  elements 
(especially  i  Timothy  and  Titus)  which,  it  is  thought,  can  not  have 
originated  with  Paul.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  there  was  no  time 
in  the  life  of  the  apostle  up  to  the  Roman  imprisonment  in  which 
the  letters  could  have  been  written.  The  situation  of  the  writer  in 
the  respective  letters  is  either  to  be  brought  down  this  side  of  that 
imprisonment,  or  is  to  be  regarded  as  fictitious.  Now  the  allusions 
to  the  movements  of  the  author  are  a  part  of  the  letters  which,  it 
appears  to  me,  can  with  least  show  of  conclusive  argument  be  re- 
garded as  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Paul.  But  these  allusions  imply 
that  Paul  w^as  set  at  liberty,  that  he  returned  to  the  East,  that  he 
visited  Corinth,  where  Erastus  who  had  been  with  him  stopped 
(2  Tim.  4: 20),  Macedonia  and  Crete  (i  Tim.  1:3;  Titus  1:5),  probably 
also  Ephesus,  to  which  place  Aquila  and  Priscilla  may  have  accom- 
panied him  (2  Tim.  4:19),  that  he  visited  Troas  also,  where  he  left 
a  cloak  with  Carpus  (2  Tim,  4:13),  and  Miletus,  at  which  place  Tro- 
phimus  was  left  behind  ill  (2  Tim.  4:20).  While  at  Ephesus,  Paul 
may  have  carried  out  his  purpose  to  visit  Philemon  at  Colossae 
(Philem.  22).  He  purposed  to  spend  the  winter  in  Nicopohs,  perhaps 
the  city  of  that  name  in  Epirus  (Titus  3:12).  The  letters  do  not 
enable  us  to  determine  the  course  which  Paul  took  on  this  eastern 
journey.  Since  he  planned  to  winter  in  Nicopolis,  and  then  in  the 
second  letter  to  Timothy  urged  him  to  come  on  to  the  place  of  his 
imprisonment  before  the  winter,  it  may  be  surmised  that  his  arrest 
took  place  in  or  near  Nicopolis.  These  allusions  to  a  journey  among 
the  churches  of  Achaia,  Macedonia,  and  Asia — a  journey  for  which 
there  is  no  place  in  the  record  of  Paul's  hfe  prior  to  the  Roman  im- 
prisonment— accord  with  the  purpose  which  we  kn:)W  Paul  cherished 
at  the  time  when  he  wrote  to  the  Phihppians  and  Philemon. 

There  is  nothing  in  2  Timothy  that  necessarily  points  to  Rome, 
even  as  there  is  no  clue  given  regarding  the  grounds  on  which  Paul 
was  again  imprisoned.  Yet  since  trustworthy  tradition  puts  the 
martyrdom  of  Paul  in  Rome,  and  since  in  this  letter  he  speaks  as 
though  anticipating  death  in  the  near  future,  the  only  probable  sup- 
position regarding  the  imprisonment  and  trial  of  which  the  letter 
speaks  is  that  they  were  in  Rome.     The  difference  between  Paul's 


2l6  ClIRISTI WITV    IN    THK    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

condilion  acc()r<lin<^  lo  2  'rimotliy  and  that  which  is  reflected  in 
l'hihi)])ians  and  tlie  hisl  verses  of  Acts  is  very  marked.  Then  his 
friends  were  with  liim;  now  one  and  another  has  deserted  him. 
Then  he  l)()ked  f  )r  speedy  release;  now  he  looks  for  sj)eedy  death. 
Then  there  was  no  allusion  whatever  to  any  hostility  of  the  govern- 
ment toward  him;  now  he  speaks  of  Ix-ing  delivered  "out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  lion."  Then  there  was  no  indication  that  accusers  had 
appeared  against  Paul  in  Rome;  now  he  speaks  of  his  "defense," 
and  also  of  the  evil  done  him  by  a  certain  Alexander,  who,  as 
Timothy  is  warned  against  him,  may  be  regarded  as  a  native  of 
Ephesus,  possibly  the  same  man  who  attempted  to  speak  in  defense 
of  the  Jews  in  the  theatre  during  the  tunmlt  raised  by  Demetrius 
(Acts  19:33)- 

Tt  ap])ears  according  to  2  Timothy  that  Paul  had  been  put  on  trial, 
l)ul  that  the  evidence  brought  against  him  had  not  been  strong 
enough  to  secure  his  immediate  conviction.  It  may  be  supposed 
that  his  enemies  were  given  further  time  to  summon  witnesses,  or 
to  procure  other  evidence.  It  is  obvious,  then,  that  he  can  not 
have  been  on  trial  simply  for  being  a  Christian.  He  would  not  have 
defended  himself  against  that  charge,  but  would  at  once  have  frankly 
confessed  that  it  was  true.  If  the  accusation  against  him  was  that 
he  had  long  been  a  disturbing  element  in  the  empire,  and  that  his 
preaching  had  led  to  riots,  doubtless  it  was  capable  of  being  estab- 
lished. But  beyond  the  general  fact  that  he  suffered  martyrdom 
in  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Nero  nothing  is  definitely  known  about  the 
cl,)se  of  his  great  career. 

151.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  Describe  the 
Roman  imprisonment  of  Paul.  (2)  What  indication  have  we  of  the 
location  of  his  lodging  ?  (3)  Why  did  Paul  seek  a  conference  with 
the  Jews  of  Rome  ?  (4)  Had  they  any  knowledge  of  him  ?  (5) 
Why  did  the  Jews  seek  a  conference  with  Paul  ?  (6)  What  was 
the  result  of  this  conference  ?  (7)  What  details  regarding  Paul's 
Roman  activity  are  found  in  the  letters  to  the  Philippians  and  Colos- 
sians  ?  (8)  What  old  helpers  were  with  Paul  in  Rome,  and  what 
special  aid  did  he  receive  ?  (9)  What  was  the  general  condition  of 
the  church  at  Philippi  at  this  time  ?     What  ofllcers  did  they  have  ? 


PAULS    ROMAN   IMPRISONMENT  21 7 

What  occasioned  the  letter  to  them  ?  (10)  What  incHcation  does  the 
letter  contain  that  there  was  a  vigorous  Christian  life  at  Philippi  ? 
(11)  Locate  Colossas;  describe  the  origin  of  the  church  there  and  its 
condition  when  the  letter  was  written  to  it.  (12)  What  false  teach- 
ing threatened  the  church  at  Colossas  ?  (13)  What  effect  would  its 
acceptance  have  had  on  the  doctrine  of  Christ  ?  (14)  Whence  did 
this  false  teaching  come  ?  (15)  What  was  the  probable  destination 
of  the  letter  to  the  Ephesians  ?  (16)  What  does  the  letter  suggest 
about  the  Christian  estate  of  the  readers  ? 

(17)  When  was  Paul  confident  of  release,  and  what  is  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  fact  ?  (18)  What  is  the  tradition  concerning  the 
time  and  place  of  Paul's  death?  Does  it  fix  the  year?  (19)  What 
facts  suggest  that  Paul  may  have  been  released  without  trial  ?  (20) 
What  letters  may  throw  some  light  on  the  close  of  Paul's  life  ? 
(21)  What  allusions  are  there  in  these  letters  to  an  eastern  journey 
and  a  second  arrest?  (22)  What  differences  are  there  between 
Paul's  imprisonment  according  to  2  Timothy  and  that  imprison- 
ment which  is  reflected  in  the  last  verses  of  Acts  and  in  Philippians  ? 
(20)  What  suggestions  has  2  Timothy  regarding  a  trial  of  Paul  ? 

§  152.  Supplementary  Topics  for  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature. 

1.  Write  a  chapter  on  the  Roman  imprisonment  of  Paul  and  the 
close  of  his  life. 

2.  On  Nero  and  his  persecution  see : 

Gibbon's  History  oj  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  16;  and 
Weizsacker,  The  Apostolic  Age,  Vol.  II,  pp.  141  ff. 

3.  On  the  origin  of  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus  consult  such 
recent  works  on  New  Testament  Introduction  as  Godet,  Julicher, 
Zahn,  Holtzmann,  and  Salmon. 

4.  On  the  carrying  out  of  Paul's  plan  to  visit  Spain  see: 
McGiffert,   The  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  415   ff.   and  Findlay  in  Hastings'  Bible 

Dictionary,  article  "Paul  the  Apostle."  The  student  will  have  noticed,  in 
the  course  of  the  last  chapter,  that  when  Paul  was  in  prison  at  Rome  his  thoughts 
turned  back  to  the  East.  If  he  still  planned  to  go  to  Spain,  he  had  postponed 
the  visit. 


PART  V 

CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  LATTER  PART  OF   THE   FIRST 
CENTURY 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  LIFE  OF  A  JEWISH-CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  AS  SEEN  THROUGH 
THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS 

SYNOPSIS 

§  153.    The  authorship  and  date  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
§  154.    The  spiritual  condition  of  the  church  to  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
was  written. 

§  153.  The  Authorship  and  Date  of  the  Letter  to  the  Hebrews. — This  can 
be  determined  within  certain  broad  limits,  but  not  precisely;  and  for  our  present 
purpose  this  indefiniteness  is  not  important.  That  the  author  was  a  Jew  and  a 
Hellenist  is  the  common  belief  of  scholars,  and  as  to  the  date  of  composition,  it 
is  plain  that  Hebrews  was  not  written  until  the  second  Christian  generation  (Heb. 
2:3;    T^S'-j),  but  yet  before  Clement,  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (93-95  a.  d.). 

It  is,  however,  more  important  to  ask  after  the  readers  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  These  have  been  sought  in  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  Rome,  Antioch, 
and  elsewhere.  Some  scholars  have  supposed  that  they  were  Jews,  others  that 
they  were  gentiles,  and  yet  others  that  they  were  all  Christian  believers  without 
regard  to  nationality.  The  question  need  not  here  be  discussed  at  length,  but 
we  will  briefly  indicate  the  reasons  for  holding  that  it  was  addressed  to  the  church 
at  Jerusalem.  First,  the  title  "to  the  Hebrews"  (ttr^s  'E/Spafovs),  though  not  a  part 
of  the  original  letter,  represents  the  only  tradition  of  the  early  church  in  regard  to 
its  destination,  a  tradition  found  both  at  Alexandria  and  Rome.  As  this  early 
tradition  points  to  Jewish-Christians  exclusively,  it  points  to  Palestine,  for  we  know 
of  no  church  elsewhere  that  was  exclusively,  or  even  predominantly,  Jewish-Chris- 
tian; and  if  it  points  to  Palestine,  then  most  naturally  to  the  church  at  Jeursalem. 

Again,  the  argument  of  the  epistle  from  the  first  chapter  throughout  seems 
much  better  adapted  to  Jewish  than  to  gentile  readers.  The  author  seeks  to 
show  that  the  Christian  revelation  is  superior  to  that  which  was  made  to  the 
fathers,  and  here  and  there  he  turns  aside  to  exhort  his  readers  not  to  drift  away 
(Heb.  2:1),  that  is,  away  from  the  truth  that  the  revelation  in  Christ  is  superior 
to  that  of  the  Old  Testament.  Now  this  method  of  argument  is  perfectly  intelli- 
gible if  the  readers  were  Jews;  but  it  is  not  plain  why  an  author  should  address 
gentile  readers  on  this  wise,  since  there  was  no  gentile  church  in  the  first  century, 
so  far  as  we  know,  that  exalted  the  Old  Testament  revelation  above  the  revelation 
in  Christ.  The  only  people  who  actually  did  that  made  their  headquarters  in 
Jerusalem;  they  were  judaizers,  the  extremists  of  the  Jewish-Christian  church. 
The  only  church  in  which  there  was  a  tendency  to  place  Moses  above  Christ,  or 
on  the  same  level  with  him,  was  the  church  in  Palestine. 


222  CHRISTIANITY   IN  THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

Finally,  there  is  a  passage  in  the  epistle  itself  that  seems  to  point  to  Jerusalem 
as  the  home  of  the  readers,  viz.,  13:10-14.  The  author  exhorts  his  readers  to 
go  forth  with  him  "without  the  camp,"  for  they  "have  not  here  an  abiding  city." 
The  meaning  of  this  figurative  language  is  obvious  if  Jerusalem  stands  in  the 
background. 

§  154.  The  Spiritual  Condition  of  the  Church  to  Which  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  Was  Addressed. — The  church  at  Jerusalem, 
to  which,  on  the  basis  of  the  above  evidence  we  may  believe  this  letter 
to  have  been  written,  was  a  church  with  a  good  record.  Its  members 
had  endured  a  great  conflict  of  suffering  (Heb.  10:32);  they  had 
taken  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their  possessions  (Heb,  10:34);  they 
had  before  them  the  example  of  rulers  who  had  nobly  ended  their 
lives  (Heb.  13:7).  Nor  was  their  present  estate  wholly  without  praise- 
worthy features.  There  were  some  members  who  ministered  to  their 
brethren  (Heb.  6:10;  13:1),  as  had  been  done  in  time  past.  There 
were  still  some  who  assembled  together  for  worship  (Heb.  10:25), 
and  who  strove  against  sin,  even  though  their  striving  was  not  unto 
blood  (Heb.  12:5).  But  the  church  as  a  whole  was  losing  its  earlier 
spiritual  vigor,  and  was  tending  toward  a  judaizing  formalism. 
They  were  dull  of  hearing  (Heb.  5:11),  satisfied  with  the  first  lessons 
of  truth  (Heb.  6:1);  they  wavered  in  the  confession  of  their  hope 
(Heb.  10 :  23) ;  their  hands  hung  down  and  their  knees  were  palsied 
(Heb.  12:12);  they  were  becoming  unmindful  of  the  claim  of  love 
(Heb.  13:2,  16),  and  open  to  divers  strange  teachings  (Heb.  13:9); 
and  they  were  inclined  toward  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  (Heb.  13 : 
9,  10).  Their  doctrinal  error  was  a  failure  to  hold  fast  the  beginning 
of  their  confidence  in  Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  an  exaltation 
of  the  imperfect  revelation  of  the  law;  and  their  practical  defect  was 
a  loss  of  love. 

Such  was  the  general  condition  of  the  church  which  had  been 
founded  at  Pentecost,  and  in  which,  during  its  earlier  years,  the 
apostles  had  labored. 

§  155.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study.— (i)  What  reasons 
are  there  for  thinking  that  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrew  was  addressed 
to  the  church  at  Jerusalem?  (2)  What  had  distinguished  this 
church  in  the  past?     (3)   Describe  its  condition  when  this  letter 


LIFE   OF   A   JEWISH-CHRISTIAiST  CHURCH 


223 


was  written.     (4)  What  did  the  writer  seek  to  accomplish  by  his 
letter  ? 

§  156.  Supplementary  Topic  for  Study.— On  the  basis  of  the 
preceding  discussion  and  of  a  careful  reading  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  write  a  paragraph  on  the  condition  of  the  church 
addressed. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  INNER  LIFE  OF   THE  CflURCHES    OF    CRETE  AND  ASIA  AS 
SEEN  THROUGH  THE  LETTERS  TO  TIMOTHY  AND  TITUS, 
THE  LETTERS  OF  JOHN/AND  THE  REVELATION 

SYNOPSIS 

§  157.    General  condition  of  the  churches. 
§  158.    Errors  in  doctrine. 

§  157.  General  Condition  of  the  Churches. — The  letters  to  Tim- 
othy and  Titus  and  the  first  three  chapters  of  Revelation  make  a 
strong  impression  that  the  condition  of  the  churches  with  which 
they  deal  was  very  unsatisfactory.  This  is  much  less  noticeably  the 
case  with  the  letters  of  John,  though  they  speak  of  many  antichrists 
and  many  false  prophets,  to  whom  the  world  gives  heed  (i  John  2: 
18;  4: 1,  5).  But  the  letters  of  Timothy  and  Titus  certainly  did  not 
aim  to  give  a  general  survey  of  church  conditions,  and  accordingly 
their  data  can  be  used  for  such  a  survey  only  with  great  caution. 
The  first  three  chapters  of  Revelation  purport  to  reflect  the  general 
state  of  Christianity  in  the  churches  of  Asia  (seven  by  name,  but 
this  number  doubtless  used  representatively),  and  their  picture 
makes  a  more  favorable  impression  than  is  made  by  the  letters  of 
Timothy  and  Titus.  The  letters  of  John,  which  also  are  doubtless 
to  be  associated  with  the  churches  of  the  province  of  Asia  and  the 
first  of  which  appears  to  be  general  in  character,  contain  still  more 
of  light  and  less  of  shade. 

In  the  churches  of  Crete  the  unruly  men  and  vain  talkers  were 
"many, "  and  they  overthrew  the  faith  of  whole  houses  (Titus  i :  10, 
11);  but  these  men  were  would-be  teachers,  such,  apparently, 
as  sought  the  office  of  leader,  and  hence  their  number  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  large  in  comparison  with  the  entire  church.  The  letters 
to  Timothy,  so  far  as  they  directly  concern  the  Christian  state  of 
the  church  in  Ephesus,  deal  with  a  fraction  of  the  community,  and 
that  fraction  is  seemingly  a  small  minority.  "Some"  had  made 
shipwreck  concerning  the  faith,  but  only  two  names  are  mentioned 
(i  Tim.  1:19).     "Some"  were  profane  babblers,  and  said  that  the 

224 


LIFE   OF  THE   CHURCHES   OF   CRETE   AND    ASIA  225 

resurrection  was  already  past,  but  here  again  only  two  names  are 
mentioned  (2  Tim.  2:17).  In  the  "grievous  times"  when  evil  men 
and  imposters  waxed  worse  and  worse,  the  author  speaks  of  the 
folly  of  these  evil  men  as  destined  to  be  made  manifest  to  "all,"  as 
though  they  were  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  Christian  community. 

According  to  the  first  letter  of  John,  the  great  majority  of  the 
Christian  circle  which  the  author  addressed  were  "children  of  God," 
who  had  an  anointing  from  the  Holy  One  (i  John  3:1;  2:20);  they 
had  not  been  led  astray  (i  John  3:7),  they  believed  in  the  name  of 
the  Son  of  God  (i  John  5:13),  they  shared  the  great  and  precious 
knowledge  of  him  and  the  Father  (i  John  5:18-20).  In  the  indi- 
vidual church  into  which  2  John  gives  us  a  glimpse,  if  there  were 
some  who  were  in  danger  of  going  onward  and  not  abiding  in  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  there  were  also  those  who  walked  in  truth;  and 
the  third  letter  introduces  us  to  a  church  in  which,  if  there  was  a 
Diotrephes  who  loved  the  pre-eminence,  there  was  a  Gains  whose 
soul  prospered  and  a  Demetrius  who  had  the  witness  of  all  and  of 
the  truth  itself. 

The  survey  of  Asiatic  Christianity,  which  is  given  in  the  Revela- 
tion, discovers  but  one  church  that  is  deserving  of  no  praise  (Lao- 
dicea),  and  over  against  this  we  may  place  another  that  receives 
praise  unmingled  with  any  word  of  blame  (Philadelphia).  Even  in 
the  one  church  which  is  said  to  be  dead  (Sardis)  there  are  a  few 
members  whose  spiritual  garments  are  undefiled.  Of  the  other 
four  churches,  there  was  one  whose  past  was  brighter  than  its  present 
(Ephesus),  another  wh^  se  present  was  brighter  than  its  past  (Thy- 
atira),  one  that  was  spiritually  "rich"  and  prepared  for  the  approach- 
ing tribulation  (Smyrna),  and  another  in  which  Christian  faithfulness 
had  received  the  martyr's  crown  (Pergamum).  The  pictures  of  three 
out  of  the  four  are  not  without  shadows,  but  notwithstanding  these 
shadows  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  in  them  living  churches  in  which 
the  gospel  was  bearing  genuine  fruit. 

§  158.  Errors  in  Doctrine. — In  three  of  the  churches  of  Asia  (Ephesus, 
Pergamum,  Thyatira) — the  only  ones  in  which  any  doctrinal  error  is  specified — 
we  hear  of  the  teaching  of  Balaam,  which  consisted  of  two  articles,  viz.,  that 
Christians  might  (or  should)  eat  sacrificial  meat  and  commit  fornication.  This 
teaching  was  also  characterized  as  "Nicolaitan,"  possibly  from  some  Nicolas  who 


226  CHRISTIANITY   IN  THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE 

was  its  originator  or  more  eminent  exponent.     It  was  formally  set  forth  in  Thya 
tira  by  a  woman  who  claimed  the  name  of  prophetess. 

This  doctrine  reminds  us  at  once  of  the  articles  of  compromise  which  were 
proposed  at  the  conference  in  Jerusalem  and  accepted  by  the  church  at  Antioch. 
The  eating  of  sacrificial  meat  and  the  practice  of  fornication  (intermarriage  with 
near  relatives)  were  there  named  as  two  things  from  which  gentile  Christians 
should  abstain  in  order  to  have  fellowship  with  their  Jewish  brethren.  The 
association  of  just  these  two  practices  in  Revelation  suggests,  indeed,  some  con- 
nection with  the  compromise  of  the  early  day,  but  that  was  probably  not  the  case. 
The  comparison  of  the  error  in  the  church  at  Pergamum  with  the  practice  of 
Balak  (see  Num.  25:1,  2)  shows  that  the  word  "fornication"  was  meant  to  be 
taken  in  its  literal  signification,  but  it  is  impossible  to  take  it  thus  in  Acts  15 :  29. 
It  is  possible  that  the  practice  of  eating  sacrificial  meat  in  some  of  the  Asiatic 
churches  had  existed  from  the  time  of  Paul,  or  that  it  appealed  to  some  word  of  his. 
We  know  that  he  allowed  the  practice  subject  to  one  condition,  viz.,  the  brother's 
welfare.  Why  the  author  of  Revelation  looked  on  the  practice  as  Satanic  (Rev. 
2:24)  we  do  not  know.  We  are  equally  uninformed  on  what  grounds  any  per- 
sons who  called  themselves  Christians  sought  to  justify  unchastity.  It  may  have 
been  a  perversion  of  Paul's  doctrine  of  sin  and  grace,  analogous  to  that  which  is 
alluded  to  in  Romans  (Rom.  3:8;  6:1).  But  however  the  doctrine  arose,  the 
fact  of  the  practice  itself  is  significant. 

The  letters  of  John  combat  an  error  which  is  new,  not  being  found  in  any 
New  Testament  writings  of  earlier  date.  It  concerned  the  person  of  the  Savior. 
Some  Christians  held  that  Christ  was  baptized,  but  denied  that  he  was  crucified. 
It  was  Jesus  only  who  was  crucified,  the  Christ  having  departed  from  him.  Hence 
the  emphasis  with  which  the  letter  affirms  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  (i  John  2:22), 
and  that  Jesus  Christ  came  not  in  water  only,  but  also  in  blood  (i  John  5:6).  The 
false  doctrine  plainly  destroyed  the  unity  of  Christ's  person,  and  therefore  it  was 
opposed  with  the  utmost  earnestness.  The  author  of  the  letter  considered  that 
it  was  nothing  less  than  anti-Christian,  a  practical  denial  of  both  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  But  they  who  held  this  speculation  regarding  Jesus  Christ  thought 
that  they  had  gone  onward  from  the  simple  doctrine  of  the  church  to  something 
higher  (2  John  9).  This  speculation  was  part  of  Gnosticism,  and  may  have 
been  set  forth  by  Cerinthus,  who,  according  to  Irenaeus  (Heresies,  3.  3.  4),  was  a 
contemporary  of  John  and  lived  in  Ephesus. 

Of  the  forms  of  error  alluded  to  in  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus  nothing 
definite  can  be  made  out.  There  were  persons  who  said  that  the  resurrection 
was  past  (2  Tim.  2:17);  there  were  others  who  opposed  marriage  and  the  eating 
of  meat  (i  Tim.  4:3);  there  was  a  teaching  of  endless  genealogies  and  fables 
(i  Tim.  1:4;  2  Tim.  4:4).  But  these  references  are  all  vague.  One  thing,  how- 
ever, is  clear  from  a  survey  of  the  writings  which  we  are  now  considering,  viz., 
that  many  forms  of  error  arose  within  the  church  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  first 
century,  threatening  both  its  fundamental  doctrines  and  the  purity  of  its  life. 


LIFE    OF   THE    CHURCHES    IN    CRETE    AND    ASIA  227 

§  159.  Concerning  Organization. — The  first  letter  to  Timothy  and  the  letter 
to  Titus  contain  certain  very  noteworthy  features  in  the  matter  of  ecclesiastical 
organization.  Titus  is  represented  as  having  authority  to  appoint  elders  in  the 
cities  of  Crete,  as  well  as  to  set  in  order  other  things  that  were  wanting  (Titus 
1:5).  Timothy,  in  a  like  manner,  is  clothed  with  authority  superior  to  that  of 
bishops.  The  sending  to  him  of  a  list  of  quaUfications  for  the  office  of  bishop 
implies  that  he  would  make  use  of  this  information  in  the  examination  of 
candidates  (i  Tim.  3);  and  again,  his  position  is  clearly  indicated  when  he 
is  told  not  to  receive  an  accusation  against  an  elder  unless  it  is  supported  by 
two  or  three  witnesses.  Thus  he  is  evidently  thought  of  as  presiding  over  the 
elders. 

Here,  then,  we  have  a  significant  fact,  viz.,  that  Timothy  and  Titus  are  as- 
sumed to  have  authority  from  Paul  supeiror  to  that  of  bishops.  But  of  such  a 
transfer  of  authority  by  Paul  or  any  other  apostle  there  is  no  trace  in  Acts  or  in 
other  New  Testament  writings  with  the  exception  of  i  Timothy  and  Titus.  More- 
over, the  letters  of  Paul  do  not  once  indicate  that  he  himself  assumed  to  appoint 
an  elder  on  his  own  authority.  He  and  Barnabas  together,  according  to  Acts 
(Acts  14:23),  appointed  elders  in  the  churches  of  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia,  though 
it  is  doubtful  whether  they  did  this  without  church  action  (xeiporoviJtraj'Tes). 
Since,  then,  there  is  no  evidence  that  Paul  himself  appointed  elders,  it  seems 
altogether  unlikely  that  he  delegated  authority  to  others  to  appoint  elders.  This 
feature,  therefore,  seems  to  poirit  to  a  time  considerably  later  than  Paul. 

Again,  in  i  Timothy  and  Titus  it  appears  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  every 
church  had  one  or  more  elders  (Titus  1:5;  i  Tim.  3:1);  but  we  have  already 
noticed  that  the  church  at  Corinth,  of  which  we  have  fuller  knowledge  than  of 
any  other  Christian  community  in  the  apostolic  age,  appears  to  have  had  no 
elders  at  the  time  when  the  letters  were  written  to  it,  and  also  that  we  have  no 
trace  of  formal  organization  in  the  church  at  Rome  at  the  time  of  Paul's  letter. 
This  point  also  suggests,  at  least,  that  these  passages  in  i  Timothy  and  Titus  re- 
flect the  practice  of  an  age  subsequent  to  the  Hfe  of  Paul. 

Once  more,  i  Timothy  refers  to  a  body  of  elders,  a  presbytery  (i  Tim.  4: 14), 
by  the  laying-on  of  whose  hands  Timothy  was  supposed  to  have  some  "gift." 
But  the  organization  of  elders  into  a  body  that  performed  certain  official  acts  can 
not  have  taken  place  until  the  appointment  of  elders  had  become  general,  and 
presumably,  it  was  not  a  little  later  than  that. 

Finally,  the  elaborate  statement  of  the  qualifications  necessary  to  fit  one  for 
the  office  of  elder  or  deacon  is  not  only  wholly  without  parallel  in  other  writings 
of  the  New  Testament,  but  in  itself  is  suggestive  of  a  time  when  these  offices  were 
thoroughly  established.  At  the  appointment  of  the  Seven,  it  was  sufficient  to 
find  men  who  were  of  good  report  and  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom  (Acts  6:3). 
Very  different  from  this  simplicity  is  the  elaborateness  of  specification  in  i  Tim. 
3  and  Titus  1:5-9. 

Thus  in  four  particulars  these  letters  point  to  an  age  in  which  the  organiza- 


228  CHRISTIANITY    IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

tion  of  the  church  had  become,  or,  at  least,  was  in  process  of  becoming,  thor- 
oufi;hly  soHdified.' 

§  1 60.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  is  the 
general  impression  regarding  the  state  of  the  church  which  is  made 
by  the  letters  of  Timothy  and  Titus  ?  (2)  The  impression  made 
by  I  John  ?  (3)  The  impression  made  by  Revelation  1-3  ?  (4) 
What  reasons  are  there  for  thinking  that  the  "unruly  talkers"  and 
"profane  babblers"  in  Crete  and  Ephesus  were  only  a  small  minority 
of  the  church  ?  (5)  How  did  the  author  of  i  John  describe  the 
majority  of  the  Christian  community  to  which  he  wrote  ?  (6)  Give 
details  regarding  the  churches  of  Asia  as    seen    in  Revelation  1-3. 

(7)  What  was  the  doctrine  of  the  "Balaamites"  ?  (8)  Was  there 
any  connection  between  it  and  the  articles  of  the  Jerusalem  com- 
promise ?  (9)  What  new  error  do  the  .letters  of  John  combat? 
(10)  Name  some  of  the  errors  referred  to  in  the  letters  to  Timothy 
and  Titus. 

(11)  What  authority  are  Timothy  and  Titus  represented  as  having  ? 
(12)  Why  does  this  suggest  a  time  later  than  the  life  of  Paul?  (13) 
Specify  three  other  features  of  organization  in  i  Timothy  and  Titus 
which  seem  to  be  post-Pauline. 

§  161.  Supplementary  Topics  of  Study  and  References  to  Lit- 
erature,— 

1.  On  the  basis  of  the  preceding  discussion  and  of  a  careful 
reading  of  the  letters  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  also  the  letters  of  John 
and  the  first  three  chapters  of  Revelation,  write  a  short  chapter  on 
the  condition  of  the  churches  of  Crete  and  Asia  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  first  century. 

2.  On  Gnosticism  see  : 

Harnack,  History  of  Dogma,  Vol.  I;  Headlam  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary, 
article  "  Gnosticism." 

I  If  the  widows  of  i  Tim.  5  are  regarded  as  a  distinct  ordi-r  in  the  church — a  view 
which  there  is  little  to  favor — this,  too,  would  better  suit  the  end  of  the  century  than 
the  times  of  Paul  (see  Bennett  in  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  article  "  Widow.s"). 


CHAPTER  XXV 
THE  ABIDING  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE 

§  162.    The  apostolic  age  in  relation  to  Jesus. 

§  163.    The  apostolic  age  and  the  Christian  faith. 

§  164.    Limitations  of  the  apostolic  age. 

We  have  now  completed  our  survey  of  the  short  but  momentous 
period  in  which  the  Christian  religion  was  first  promulgated.  The 
details  of  this  movement,  so  far  as  our  fragmentary  records  have 
preserved  them,  have  been  passed  in  review.  We  have  had  glimpses 
of  strong  heroic  men  and  women  intent  on  the  fulfilment  of  what 
they  felt  to  be  a  divine  mission.  We  have  seen  little  fires  of  the 
new  faith  kindled  in  the  greater  cities  and  towns  on  the  east  and 
north  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Various  results  of  the  Christian 
movement  on  individual  character  have  been  noticed,  also  its  reaction 
on  the  synagogue  and  its  relation  to  the  Roman  government. 

Looking  away  now  from  the  details  of  the  apostolic  history,  let 
us  seek,  in  conclusion,  to  form  some  estimate  of  its  abiding  signifi- 
cance as  a  whole. 

§  162.  The  Apostolic  Age  in  Relation  to  Jesus. — We  have  seen 
that  the  period  which  is  called  the  apostolic  age  began  with  extraor- 
dinary manifestations  of  spiritual  power  within  a  few  weeks  after 
the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus.  There  had  been  no  interval 
in  which  legends  regarding  him  could  have  grown  up  to  obscure 
the  sharp  outlines  of  his  brief  ministry  or  to  blur  the  plain  sense 
of  his  words.  Such  legends  may  have  sprung  up  at  an  early  day, 
but  not  between  the  close  of  the  earthly  ministry  of  Jesus  and  the 
creative  beginning  of  the  apostolic  age.  Nor  does  that  age  itself, 
if  we  regard  it  as  practically  closed  with  the  death  of  Peter  and 
Paul,  reveal  to  us  the  origin  of  any  important  legend  affecting  the 
outlines  of  the  historical  Jesus.  If  any  such  legend  took  definite 
shape  during  those  years,  the  fact  lies  beyond  our  knowledge. 

The  record  of  the  apostolic  age  is  then  an  unimpeachable  witness 
to  the  reality  and  power  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.     Its  record  does  not 

.   229 


230  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

mirror  to  us,  in  large  number,  the  separate  details  of  Jesus'  life  and 
the  words  he  spoke,  but  rather  his  personal  spiritual  power  over 
human  life.  If  we  had  no  gospel  according  to  Mark  with  its  vivid 
picture  of  the  manner  in  which  Jesus  wrought  on  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  sick  and  suffering,  the  record  of  the  apostolic  age  would 
supply  its  essential  truth.  If  we  had  no  gospel  according  to  Matthew 
with  its  priceless  collection  of  the  Master's  words,  the  record  of  the 
apostolic  age  would  not  only  convince  us  that  these  words  or  such 
as  these  had  been  spoken,  but  would  give  us  a  fairly  distinct  idea 
of  their  scope  and  spirit.  If  we  had  no  gospel  according  to  Luke 
with  its  perception  of  the  tenderness  and  comprehensiveness  of  the 
sympathy  and  love  of  Jesus,  the  record  of  the  apostohc  age  would 
constrain  us  to  infer  that  these  qualities  existed  in  him  in  a  superlative 
degree. 

Thus  the  events  and  incidents  of  the  apostolic  age,  antedating  as 
they  do  the  composition  of  our  gospels,  affirm  with  many  clear 
voices  that  just  back  of  them,  in  the  then  immediate  past,  Hved 
and  acted  a  man  of  immeasurable  spiritual  resources.  They  witness 
not  only  that  Jesus  was  able  to  win  adherents  who  would  gladly 
die  for  him,  but  they  witness  what  is  vastly  more  significant,  that 
there  proceeded  from  him  a  subtle  power  by  which  the  characters 
and  lives  of  men  were  marvelously  transformed,  and  that  this  power 
gave  promise  already  of  an  entirely  new  social  order — a  kingdom  of 
righteousness  and  peace  and  joy. 

§  163.  The  Apostolic  Age  and  the  Christian  Faith. — The  record 
of  the  apostolic  age  not  only  brings  us  near  to  the  historical  Jesus, 
and  thus  possesses  an  abiding  value  for  all  Christians,  but  its  con- 
ception of  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  also  of  permanent  importance. 
This  importance  grows  mainly  from  two  facts — the  nearness  of  the 
apostolic  age  to  the  historical  events  on  which  the  Christian  religion 
was  based  and  the  exceptional  ability  of  its  leading  representatives. 

Nearness  to  the  underlying  historical  events  gave  to  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  apostohc  age  an  eminently  vital  and  practical  character. 
Some  of  the  first  preachers  had  been  personal  companions  of  Jesus, 
all  of  them  were  men  of  his  generation.  The  force  of  the  historical 
facts  gave  to  the  new  religion  an  atmosphere  of  intense  reahty.  It 
left  little  room  for  speculation  and  theorizing.     This  force  impelled 


ABIDING   SIGNIFICANCE   OF   APOSTOLIC   AGE  23 1 

believers  to  be  missionaries  rather  than  theologians.  It  stirred  the 
human  mind  profoundly,  it  is  true,  and  as  nothing  before  had  stirred 
it;  but  this  quickening  was  still  controlled  and  directed  by  the  most 
practical  considerations.  In  short  we  may  say  that  the  nearness  of 
the  historical  facts  made  the  Christianity  of  the  apostolic  age  emi- 
nently Christian,  that  is,  made  it  revolve  around  the  personality  of  the 
historical  Jesus. 

Then,  in  the  second  place,  the  exceptional  ability  of  the  leading 
believers  in  the  apostolic  age  gave  to  its  conception  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  exceptional  value.  The  men  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Jewish 
section  of  the  new  society — Peter  and  James  and  John — and  those 
who  led  in  the  greater  work  among  the  gentiles — Paul  and  Barnabas, 
Silas  and  Timothy,  Luke  and  Titus,  Aquila  and  Prisca  and  Apollos 
with  many  others,  were  people  of  eminent  endowments.  Of  this 
statement  the  establishment,  the  geographical  expansion,  and  the 
spiritual  development  of  the  Jewish  and  gentile  churches  within  the 
life-time  of  these  men  and  women,  beset  as  the  work  was  with  great 
peril  and  difficulty  on  every  side,  are  brilliant  and  conclusive  proof. 
The  foregoing  pages  have  furnished  indirect  evidence  of  this  claim 
in  the  case  of  several  of  the  leading  characters. 

This  combination  of  exceptional  ability  with  exceptional  historical 
position  gave  to  the  conception  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  which  prevailed 
in  the  apostolic  age  very  great  significance.  There  is  but  shght 
foundation  for  the  claim  that  the  Christianity  of  the  apostolic  age 
should  be  regarded  as  normative  because  of  the  official  relation 
which  the  leaders  of  that  age  sustained  to  Christ.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  only  three  of  the  original  apostles  appear  in  our  record 
of  the  work  of  the  early  church,'  and  their  labors  were  practically 
confined  to  the  Jews.  Of  those  who  led  in  the  work  among  the 
gentiles  even  Paul,  though  spiritually  an  apostle,  can  hardly  be 
called  an  apostle  in  the  official  ecclesiastical  sense  of  the  word.  His 
apostleship  did  not  conform  to  the  conditions  laid  down  in  Acts  i : 
21  flf.,  for  he  had  not  been  a  witness  of  the  earthly  ministry  of  Jesus. 
Our  claim,  then,  that  the  Christianity  of  the  apostolic  age  has  peculiar 

'  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  original  apostles,  of  whose  work  we  know  so  little, 
were  probably  of  greatest  significance  as  the  fashioners,  and  largely  also  the  source, 
of  the  oral  tradition  of  the  Ufe  and  work  of  Jesus. 


232  CHRISTIANITY    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

significance  rests  not  upon  any  outward  and  official  relationship, 
but  upon  more  stable  facts. 

§  164.  Limitations  of  the  Apostolic  Age. — As  Christians  we  do 
not  seek  our  Golden  Age  in  the  past,  Judaism  out  of  which  Chris- 
tianity sprang  was  a  religion  of  the  future,  and  still  more  was  this 
true  of  the  new  faith.  It  anticipated  a  glorious  consummation 
when  the  will  of  God  should  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 
This  hope  was  not  realized  in  the  apostolic  age.  They  who  lived  in 
those  intense  years  and  wrought  with  Peter  and  Paul,  with  Barnabas, 
Clement,  Epaphras,  and  their  co-workers,  saw  only  the  brilliant 
beginning  of  its  realization. 

While,  therefore,  we  look  back  across  the  centuries  to  the  apos- 
tolic age  with  peculiar  admiration  and  with  deep  gratitude,  and 
while  we  place  at  least  one  of  its  great  heroic  names  above  all  those 
of  the  intervening  generations,  it  is  not  our  Golden  Age.  That 
lies  before  us,  and  far  above  both  our  level  and  that  of  the  apostolic 
age. 

The  Christianity  of  the  present  day  is  without  doubt  of  a  more 
perfect  sort  than  was  that  which  sprang  up  out  of  heathenism  under 
the  ministry  of  Paul  and  his  fellow-laborers.  Could  the  men  of 
that  time  have  had  a  clear  vision  of  the  church  and  the  Christian 
civilization  of  the  twentieth  century,  they  might  have  thought  that 
the  consummation  of  the  ages  was  not  far  beyond  what  they  saw. 
The  close  of  the  apostolic  age  saw  a  company  of  believers  which, 
though  considerable,  was  yet  unknown  to  the  great  mass  of  people 
in  the  Roman  empire;  now  their  successors  dominate  the  world. 
Then  there  were  but  few  agencies  in  operation  for  the  spread  of  the 
kingdom,  now  the  agencies  are  numbered  by  thousands.  Then  the 
means  of  attaining  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  Christianity  and  of 
the  Old  Testament  revelation  were,  for  the  larger  part  of  believers, 
limited  to  the  evangelists  who  went  about  from  place  to  place  teaching 
and  preaching;  now  these  means  are  most  diversified  and  ample. 
Then  the  body  of  believers  were  but  poorly  educated,  when  educated 
at  all,  and  though  they  might  have  an  intense  and  pure  Christian, 
life  in  the  heart,  they  were  not  able  to  attain  a  broad  and  intelligent 
grasp  of  the  new  religion;  now  the  body  of  believers  in  Christian 
lands   are   educated,   and   relatively  free   from  gross   superstitions. 


ABIDING    SIGNIFICANCE    OF   APOSTOLIC    AGE  233 

Then  the  church  felt  no  upward  pressure  from  the  past.  Gathered 
mainly  out  of  heathenism,  the  hereditary  tendency  among  converts 
was  downward  rather  than  upward.  Now  each  generation  has 
behind  it  the  accumulated  momentum  of  a  long  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. Its  environment  is  the  product  of  centuries  of  toil  and  suffer- 
ing, and  brings  home  to  the  individual,  as  was  not  possible  in  the 
apostohc  age,  the  importance  of  Christian  ideals  and  the  power  of 
the  Christian  spirit. 

In  these  fundamental  respects,  not  to  mention  others,  we  have 
advanced  beyond  the  apostolic  age,  though  the  advance  has  been 
far  less  than  it  ought  to  have  been.  This  advance,  it  may  be  noted, 
has  not  been  evenly  distributed  through  the  eighteen  and  a  half 
centuries  since  the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul.  On  the  contrary,  it 
belongs  mainly  to  the  last  four  centuries.  The  Christianity  of  the 
apostolic  age  was  not  maintained  in  the  subsequent  generations. 
There  was  a  decline  from  the  first  century  to  the  sixth,  and  thereafter 
for  eight  centuries  the  church,  as  regards  vital  apprehension  of 
Christ,  simplicity  of  faith  and  worship,  and  the  evangelization  of 
the  world,  was  but  a  far-off  echo  of  the  apostohc  age.  A  forward 
movement  began  with  the  Reformation,  and  the  church  has  been 
gradually  getting  into  line  and  sympathy  with  its  high  creative 
beginning.  Large  sections  of  it,  as  has  been  said,  have  now  advanced 
in  many  particulars  beyond  that  beginning. 

That  this  advance  is  in  a  measure  offset  by  other  points  in  which 
we  still  fall  short  of  the  apostohc  age  can  not  be  denied.  Thus  it  is 
certain  that  the  outlines  of  the  historical  Jesus  have  become  obscured, 
and  certain  also  that  with  this  loss  has  gone  a  lessening  of  the  church 's 
sense  of  his  reality  and  a  diminution  of  the  spirit  of  earnestness. 
Moreover,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  with  the  growth  of  com- 
plexity in  organization  and  in  religious  ceremonies  there  has  come 
to  be  an  importance  attached  to  these  things  in  themselves  which 
hinders  the  progress  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  trend  away 
from  simplicity  and  reality  which  we  see  in  the  history  of  Judaism 
and,  indeed,  in  the  history  of  every  other  great  religion,  is  to  be 
seen  also  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  If  it  is  less  marked  here  than 
elsewhere,  and  if  at  times  there  has  been  a  partial  recovery  of  the 
primitive  sense  of  the  reality  of  Christ  and  the  primitive  simplicity 


234  CHRISTIANITY   IN   THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE 

of  faith,  this  has  been  due  in  no  slight  degree  to  the  mighty  object- 
lesson  on  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel  furnished  by  the 
record  of  the  apostolic  age, 

§165.  Questions  and  Suggestions  for  Study. — (i)  What  gives  to 
the  apostolic  age  peculiar  significance  as  a  witness  to  Christ  ?  (2)  To 
what  docs  it  witness  regarding  him?  (3)  What  two  facts  give  to 
the  Christianity  of  the  apostolic  age  peculiar  significance  ? 

(4)  What  was  the  effect  of  the  nearness  of  the  historical  facts  upon 
the  thought  and  life  of  the  apostolic  age  ?  (5)  What  general  proof 
have  we  of  the  exceptional  ability  of  the  leaders  of  the  apostolic  age  ? 
(6)  Can  we  base  the  significance  of  apostolic  Christianity  upon  any 
official  relation  of  its  leaders  to  Christ  ? 

(7)  Did  the  apostolic  age  realize  the  ideal  of  Christ  ?  (8)  Name 
some  particulars  in  which  the  Christianity  of  the  present  is  in 
advance  of  that  of  the  apostolic  age  ?  (9)  When  has  this  advance 
been  made  ?  (10)  Name  some  points  in  which  apostolic  Christianity 
is  still  in  advance  of  the  church. 


APPENDIX 

IMPORTANT  POTITICAL  EVENTS  OF  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE 

Tiberius  Caesar,  emperor  14  to  37  a.  d. 

34  A.  D.    Death  of  Philip,  tetrarch  of  Iturea,  Trachonitis,  and  Gaulonitis. 
His  territory  made  part  of  the  Roman  province  of  Syria. 

36  A.  D.    Pilate,  procurator  of  Judea  (in  which  was  also  included  Samaria), 

removed  from  office,  and  sent  to  Rome  for  trial — succeeded  by 
Vitellius. 
Caligula,  emperor  37  to  41  a.  d. 

37  A.  D.    Herod  Agrippa  I  is  given  the  territories  of  Lysanias  and  Philip, 

with  the  title  of  king. 

39  A.  D.    Herod    Antipas,   tetrarch    of    Galilee   and  Perea,   deposed    and 

banished  to  Lugdunum. 

40  A.  D.    Herod  Agrippa  I  receives  also  the  territory  of  Antipas. 

41  A.  D.    Herod  Agrippa  I  receives  also  Judea  and  Samaria,  formerly  ruled 

by  procurators. 
Claudius,  emperor  41  to  54  a.  d. 

44  A.  D.    Herod  Agrippa  I  dies  at  Caesarea  (Acts  12:20-23). 
?  Jews  expelled  from  Rome  (Acts  18:2). 

Nero,  emperor  54  to  68  A.  d. 

52-62  A.  D.    Antoninus  Felix  and  Porcius  Festus,  in  succession,  procurators 
of  Judea.     Cf.  pp.  19S,  198. 

66  A.  D.   The  Judeo-Roman  war  begun. 
Galea,  Otho,  and  Vitellius,  in  succession,  emperors,  their  combined  reigns 

lasting  from  68  (June)  to  69  A.  d.  (Dec). 
Vespasian,  emperor  69  to  79  A.  d. 

70  a.  D.    The  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
Titus,  emperor  79  to  81  a.  t>. 
Domitian,  emperor  81  to  96  A.  d. 
Nerva,  emperor  96  to  98  A.  d. 
Trajan,  emperor  98  to  117  A.  D. 


235 


INDEX  OF  NAMES  AND  SUBJECTS 


Acts,  Book  of:  see  Sources. 
Agabus,  82,  183. 
Agrippa  I,  83. 
Agrippa  II,  196,  197. 
Alexander  of  Ephesus,  146. 
Amphipolis,  121. 
Ananias  of  Damascus,  65,  66. 
Ananias  of  Jerusalem,  34,  35. 
Antioch  (Pisidian),  103. 
Antioch  (Syrian):   the  city,  78;   found- 
ing of  the  church,  80,  81. 
Apoli.os,  141,  158- 

Apostolic  Age:   chronological  limits,  7; 
chief  events,   8;    theater  of  action,  8; 
results  of  missions,  9;   abiding  signifi- 
cance, 229-34. 
Aquii.a,  130,  141,  142,  208,  209,  215. 
Arabia,  67. 
Areopagus,  128. 
Aristarchus,  146,  200,  209. 
Ascension  of  Jesus,  16,  17. 
Athens,  126,  128. 
Bar-Jesus,  102. 

Barnabas:    entrance  into  Christian  fel- 
lowship, 34;  work  in  Antioch,  80 ;  mis- 
sion to  Jerusalem,  81-83;    with  Paul, 
99-106;  separated  from  Paul,  116,  117. 
Bernice,  197. 
BoRCEA,  125. 

C^SAREA,    182,    183,    192. 

Carpus,  215. 

Cenchre^,  132. 

Christian,  the  name,  81. 

Christian  life:  among  the  readers  of 
James,  91,  92;  among  the  readers  of 
I  Peter,  92-94;  in  Thessalonica,  139, 
140;  in  Galatia,  150,  151,  153,  154; 
in  Corinth,  157-68;  in  Rome,  174-78; 
in  Philippi,  209,  210;  in  Colossae,  210- 
12;  in  Ephesus,  212,  213;  among  the 
readers  of  Hebrews,  222;  among  the 
readers  of  Timothy,  Titus,  Letters  of 
John,  Revelation,  224-26. 

Church  at  Jerusalem:  first  attempt  to 
suppress,  32;    second  attempt,  36,  37; 


scattered,  47,  48;  persecuted  by  Agrip- 
pa I,  83,  84. 
Claudius  Lysias,  186. 
Colossi,  210. 

Conference  at  Jerusalem,  310-12;  re- 
ported at  Antioch,  112,  113. 

Community  of  goods  at  Jerusalem, 
33'  34- 

Corinth,  130,  156  note,  160. 

Cornelius,  74. 

Crete,  224. 

Crispus,  157,  167. 

Cyprus,  100,  102. 

Deacons:   see  the  "Seven." 

Demetrius,  146. 

Derbe,  105,  106. 

Disciples:  gathered  in  Jerusalem,  17,  18; 
in  peace  and  favor,*26,  27,  33,  34. 

DiUM,  126. 

DRUSfLLA,  192,  194. 

Elymas,  102,  103. 

Epaphras,  210,  211. 

Epaphroditus,  209. 

Ephesus,  143. 

Epistles  of  the  New  Testament:  see 
Sources. 

Erastus,  130,  157,  171,  172,  215. 

EuoDiA,  210. 

Eutychus,  182. 

Fair  Havens,  200,  201. 

Felix,  192,  194. 

Festus,  195. 

G.alatia,  117,  118. 

Gallio,  132. 

Gaius  of  Corinth,  130,  157,'!  67. 

Gaius  of  Derbe,  106,  146,  154. 

Gamaliel,  36,  37,  55. 

Glossolaly,  164,  165. 

Hebrews,  39. 

Hebrews,  Epistle  to:    see  Sources. 

Hellenists,  39,  80. 
Hellenistic  synagogues  in  Jerusalem, 
41. 


237 


238 


HiERAPOLIS,    2IO. 
ICONIUM,    104. 

iMMOIiALITY,  GKNTILE,  IN  CORINTH,  160, 
161. 

James,  apostle,  83. 

James  of  Jerusalem,  183;  letter  of, 
86-90. 

Jason,  124. 

Jewish  church,  relation  to  Chris- 
tianity, 9,  10. 

John,  29,  33. 

JOPPA,  71. 

Judaizers:     in    Antioch,    109,    no;     in 

Galatia,  151-53. 
Julius,  199,  202. 
Laodicea,  210,  2x2. 
Lucius,  99,  100. 
Luke:    possibly   went   with   Paul   from 

Troas,    119;    joined  Paul  at  Philippi, 

181,  200;   in  Rome,  209. 
Lydda,  71. 
Lydia,  119. 
Lystra,  105. 
Manaen,  99,  100. 

Mark  (John),  100,  102,  103,  116,  209. 
Market  of  Appius,  204. 
Marriage  versus  celibacy  in  Corinth, 

161,  162. 
Matthias,  choice  of,  18,  20. 
Meat,  sacrificial,  163. 
Meleda,  202. 
Melita,  202. 
Miletus,  182. 
Myra,  200. 
NicopoLis,  215. 
Onesimus,  208. 
Onesiphorus,  209. 
Ordinances  (sacred):   at  Corinth,  167, 

168;    in  Troas,  181,  182. 
Organization  of  the  church:  at  Thes- 

salonica,  137,  138;  in  Corinth,  157;  in 

Rome,  174,  175;    in  Philippi,  209;    in 

Colossa;,  211;  organization  reflected  in 

I  Timothy  and  Titus,  227,  228. 
Paphos,  102. 
Parousia,  error  concerning  at  Thes- 

salonica,  138,  139. 
Parties  in  the  Corinthian  church, 

157-60. 
Paul:    knowledge  of  his  life,  6;    family 

and  poHtical  status,  53,  54;    early  en- 


vironment and  education,  54-56;  as  a 
persecutor,  56,  57;  conversion,  59-65; 
in  Damascus  and  Arabia,  65,  66;  return 
to  Jerusalem,  in  Syria,  and  Cihcia,  67- 
69;  in  Antioch,  80;  sent  on  a  mission 
to  Jerusalem,  81-83;  from  Antioch 
as  a  missionary,  99,  100;  work  in 
Cyprus,  100-3;  i"^  Antioch  of  Pisidia, 
103,  104;  in  Iconium,  104,  105;  in 
Lystra  and  Derbe,  105,  106;  conflict 
with  Judaizers,  109-14;  dispute  with 
Barnabas,  116,  117;  visits  Asiatic 
churches,  117;  vision  in  Troas,  1 17-19; 
work  in  Philippi,  1 19-21;  in  Thessa- 
lonica,  121-25,  ^3^'  ^37>  ^^  Beroea, 
125,  126;  in  Athens,  126-29;  in 
Corinth,  130-32,  156,  157;  return  to 
Antioch,  132,  133;  work  in  Ephesus, 
141-48;  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia, 
171-73;  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  181-85; 
arrested  in  Jerusalem,  185,  186;  be- 
fore the  Sanhedrin,  187,  188;  taken  to 
Cajsarea,  188,  189;  before  Felix,  194, 
before  Felix  and  Drusilla,  194,  195; 
before  Festus,  195,  196;  before  Agrippa 
andBernice,  196,  197;  voyage  to  Rome, 
190-204;  imprisoned  at  Rome,  206-9; 
trial  and  death,  213-16. 

Pentecost:  coming  of  the  Spirit,  22, 
23;  sermon  of  Peter,  23,  24;  results, 
25-27. 

Perga,  103. 

Peter:  see  Pentecost;  healed  a  lame 
man,  29,  30;  address  in  Solomon's 
Porch,  30;  how  he  came  to  Cajsarea, 
71,  72;    sermon  in  house  of  Cornelius, 

74,  75;   called  to  account  in  Jerusalem, 

75,  76;  relation  of  his  act  in  Cffisarea 
to  the  mission  of  Paul,  76;  escape  from 
prison,  83,  84;  letter  of,  86-90;  Chris- 
tian life  among  the  readers  of  I  Peter, 
92-94;    at  Antioch,  113,  114. 

Philemon,  208,  211,  213,  215. 

Philip;  in  Samaria,  48-50;  with  the 
Ethiopian,  50,  51. 

Philippi,  119. 

Priscilla:    see  Aquila. 

Ptolemais,  182. 

PuBLius,  202,  203. 

Puteoli,  203. 

Resurrection:  of  Jesus,  15,  16;  doc- 
trine of,  in  Corinth,  165,  167. 

Rhegium,  203. 

Rome:  founding  of  church,  173,  174; 
constitution  of  the  church,  174. 

Roman  citizenship,  privileges  of,  54. 


INDEX 


239 


Roman   government   in   relation  to 

Christianity,  9,  10. 
Samaria:   see  Philip. 
Sapphira:    see  Ananias  of  Jerusalem. 
Sergius  P.\ulus,  102. 
Se\'en,  appointment  of  the,  39,  40. 

SiDON,  the  church  AT,   200. 

Signs:  wrought  by  apostles,  35;  how 
thought  of  by  Peter,  24,  25,  29;  wrought 
by  Paul,  102,  103,  105,  140,  144,  145, 
203. 

Silas,  116,  120,  126,  128. 

Simon  the  sorcerer:  see  Philip. 

Sosthenes,  132. 

Sources:    general  survey  of,  3-5;    Acts, 

4,  5;    Epistles,  5;    our  knowledge  of, 

5,  6;   letter  of  James,  86-90;   I  Peter, 
88-90;   Hebrews,  221,  222. 

Spirit,  the  Holy:   see  Pentecost. 
Stephen:  his  arrest,  41;  his  defense,  42, 
43;   his  death,  43,  44. 


Symeon,  99,  100. 

Syntyche,  210. 

Synzygos,  210. 

Syracuse,  203. 

Tarsus,  54. 

Tertullus,  194. 

Thessalonica,  123. 

Three  T.werns,  204. 

Timothy:    native  of  Lystra,   106;    with 

Paul  on  second  missionary  journey,  117; 

sent    to    Thessalonica,    126,    128;     to 

Macedonia,  171;   in  Rome  ,209. 
Titus  Justus,  130. 
Titus,  hi,  172. 
Troas,  118,  119. 
Trophimus,  172,  186,  215. 
Tyrannus,  school  of,  144. 
Tyre,  182. 
Tychicus,  172. 
Women  in  public'worship'in^Corinth, 

163,  164. 


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